SOURCE / PRESS RELEASE
SUEZ to double its investments to consolidate position as a leading player in water and waste management
Today, SUEZ presents its strategic plan for 2027 with the ambition of becoming the trusted partner for circular solutions in water and waste. The strategic plan provides for development centered on value creation through the contribution of proven solutions, increased innovation and strengthened investment capabilities to help SUEZ's clients tackle growing environmental challenges.
For more than 160 years, SUEZ has been acting to deliver essential services that protect and improve the quality of life. SUEZ enables its customers to provide access to water and waste services, with resilient and innovative solutions. With its 35,000 employees present in 40 countries, the Group also enables its customers to create value over the entire lifecycle of their assets and services, and to drive their ecological transition, together with their end-users.
Since the start of 2022, the new SUEZ Group has successfully demonstrated its resilience and its ability to pursue its development bolstered by the support of its shareholders — Meridiam, GIP, Caisse des Dépôts and CNP Assurances. The Group's strategic plan is based on three pillars:
Focus on the Group's key activities and markets
In terms of activities, the Group will therefore focus its presence on the businesses of the Water and Waste markets.
In terms of geographies, the Group will pursue its development in certain markets that are particularly buoyant — the United Kingdom, Italy, China, India, Australia, the Middle East and Africa — thereby benefiting from a balanced exposure between mature markets focused on innovation and emerging markets with strong growth. By 2027, the Group aims at generating approximately 40 percent of its revenue in international markets.
Invest and innovate in solutions that differentiate the Group
SUEZ intends to differentiate through its unique expertise in infrastructure construction and recognized leadership in innovation, digital technology, and customer experience.
Innovation and R&D will be strengthened to develop new solutions for preserving water resources, combating pollutants, promoting recycling, producing green energy from waste and reducing our customers' carbon footprint.
Lastly, on the strength of its leadership in connected solutions, the Group will continue to invest in digital technology and technologies that play a key role in preserving increasingly scarce resources with the goal of doubling its revenue from these activities in five years.
Committed to its ambition to invest alongside its customers, in an effort to address new environmental and energy challenges, the Group will invest an additional 860 euro ($821 million) compared to the previous period.
Create value for all of the Group's stakeholders
Through its strategy, SUEZ seeks to create value for all of its stakeholders: With respect to its shareholders, the SUEZ strategy aims at achieving growth in profitability in excess of growth in revenue.
With respect to the Group's employees, SUEZ launches an employee shareholding plan. The Group has set a target of 3 percent of its capital to be held by employees from 2022, which will be increased to 10 percent within the next five years.
In addition, the Group is renewing its societal commitments. First, through its inclusion initiatives, notably implemented by its social inclusion subsidiary, Rebond the SUEZ subsidiary celebrates its20th anniversary in 2022., With a total of 10,500 beneficiaries, 70 percent of whom have found a stable job or obtained a recognized qualification. Second, SUEZ is committed to investing in developing skills and competences. The Group has also reaffirmed its support for Foundation SUEZ: With its annual budget of nearly 3 million euro ($2.9 million), the foundation supports projects for access to essential services (water, sanitation and waste) in emerging and developing countries as well as social inclusion projects in France. Lastly, the partnership with the FDJ-SUEZ women's cycling team testifies to the Group's commitment to promote diversity and equal opportunities.
As part of its strategy, the Group also aims at maintaining its leadership in sustainable development. By the end of 2022, SUEZ will publish its sustainable development road map, outlining its contribution, ambitions and quantified targets for climate, nature conservation and social matters. 20 percent of Group executive long-term compensation will be linked to the achievement of the environmental, social and governance criteria.
A new, simplified, more agile and customer-focused organization will put this plan into action. It will be structured around the Group's two businesses — water and waste. This new organization will be based on a culture promoting entrepreneurship and team empowerment. It will also promote commercial and operational excellence.
The Group's strategic plan is firmly rooted in a vision of its contribution to society, enshrined in its purpose. SUEZ is convinced that through its water and waste activities, it can play a vital role everywhere it operates in improving people's quality of life on a day-to-day basis.
Sabrina Soussan, SUEZ Chair and CEO. Photo:Courtesy of SUEZ
At the presentation of the strategic plan, Sabrina Soussan, SUEZ Chair and CEO, commented that "the Water and Waste Markets face historic challenges, characterized by the environmental emergency and a paradigm shift in energy. My ambition is for SUEZ to become the trusted partner for circular solutions in water and waste. Today, SUEZ has set a clear direction to achieve this: an ambitious and sustainable growth strategy to generate an annual growth in revenue between 4 percent and 5 percent by 2027, based on unprecedented investment capabilities and an increase of 50 percent of our R&D efforts. The acquisition of SUEZ R&R in the United Kingdom is fully in line with this strategy. The award of a water treatment contract in India, which marks the largest signed to date by the Group in the country, also reflects our progress towards becoming a diversified and geographically balanced company. Strengthened by our history, the expertise and passion of our teams, and the unwavering support of our shareholders, we enter a new phase for SUEZ with confidence and determination."For more than 160 years, SUEZ has been acting to deliver essential services that protect and improve the quality of life. SUEZ enables its customers to provide access to water and waste services, with resilient and innovative solutions. With its 35,000 employees present in 40 countries, the Group also enables its customers to create value over the entire lifecycle of their assets and services, and to drive their ecological transition, together with their end-users.
Since the start of 2022, the new SUEZ Group has successfully demonstrated its resilience and its ability to pursue its development bolstered by the support of its shareholders — Meridiam, GIP, Caisse des Dépôts and CNP Assurances. The Group's strategic plan is based on three pillars:
Focus on the Group's key activities and markets
In terms of activities, the Group will therefore focus its presence on the businesses of the Water and Waste markets.
In terms of geographies, the Group will pursue its development in certain markets that are particularly buoyant — the United Kingdom, Italy, China, India, Australia, the Middle East and Africa — thereby benefiting from a balanced exposure between mature markets focused on innovation and emerging markets with strong growth. By 2027, the Group aims at generating approximately 40 percent of its revenue in international markets.
Invest and innovate in solutions that differentiate the Group
SUEZ intends to differentiate through its unique expertise in infrastructure construction and recognized leadership in innovation, digital technology, and customer experience.
Innovation and R&D will be strengthened to develop new solutions for preserving water resources, combating pollutants, promoting recycling, producing green energy from waste and reducing our customers' carbon footprint.
Lastly, on the strength of its leadership in connected solutions, the Group will continue to invest in digital technology and technologies that play a key role in preserving increasingly scarce resources with the goal of doubling its revenue from these activities in five years.
Committed to its ambition to invest alongside its customers, in an effort to address new environmental and energy challenges, the Group will invest an additional 860 euro ($821 million) compared to the previous period.
Create value for all of the Group's stakeholders
Through its strategy, SUEZ seeks to create value for all of its stakeholders: With respect to its shareholders, the SUEZ strategy aims at achieving growth in profitability in excess of growth in revenue.
With respect to the Group's employees, SUEZ launches an employee shareholding plan. The Group has set a target of 3 percent of its capital to be held by employees from 2022, which will be increased to 10 percent within the next five years.
In addition, the Group is renewing its societal commitments. First, through its inclusion initiatives, notably implemented by its social inclusion subsidiary, Rebond the SUEZ subsidiary celebrates its20th anniversary in 2022., With a total of 10,500 beneficiaries, 70 percent of whom have found a stable job or obtained a recognized qualification. Second, SUEZ is committed to investing in developing skills and competences. The Group has also reaffirmed its support for Foundation SUEZ: With its annual budget of nearly 3 million euro ($2.9 million), the foundation supports projects for access to essential services (water, sanitation and waste) in emerging and developing countries as well as social inclusion projects in France. Lastly, the partnership with the FDJ-SUEZ women's cycling team testifies to the Group's commitment to promote diversity and equal opportunities.
As part of its strategy, the Group also aims at maintaining its leadership in sustainable development. By the end of 2022, SUEZ will publish its sustainable development road map, outlining its contribution, ambitions and quantified targets for climate, nature conservation and social matters. 20 percent of Group executive long-term compensation will be linked to the achievement of the environmental, social and governance criteria.
A new, simplified, more agile and customer-focused organization will put this plan into action. It will be structured around the Group's two businesses — water and waste. This new organization will be based on a culture promoting entrepreneurship and team empowerment. It will also promote commercial and operational excellence.
The Group's strategic plan is firmly rooted in a vision of its contribution to society, enshrined in its purpose. SUEZ is convinced that through its water and waste activities, it can play a vital role everywhere it operates in improving people's quality of life on a day-to-day basis.
