Bureau Veritas posts 2019 H1 results

IIOA member Bureau Veritas has posted its 2019 first half results.

Reporting, ‘strong momentum’ in H1, revenue grew at 5.3% (constant currency), 5.9% actual, with organic growth of 4%

Within certification, Bureau Veritas report a decline in revenue (all organic) of 4.1% . Bureau Veritas notes the reasons for this and the anticipated impact on 2019 performance:

‘As anticipated, QHSE and Transportation Certification markets declined significantly as a result of the absence of transition man-days, notably in the second quarter. This mainly impacted the countries which are highly dependent on QHSE and Transportation certification, namely Germany, the US, Canada, Japan and to some extent Spain.

Growth was achieved elsewhere. Double-digit organic growth was recorded in Social & Customized audits, Sustainability & CSR and Food Certification. High double-digit growth was also delivered in the Enterprise Risk Management offering, including anti-bribery, business continuity, cybersecurity and GDPR Data privacy certification. The Group’s portfolio diversification is key contributor to the growth, with new products development being up 22.1% in the first-half of 2019.

By geography, growth was achieved in the Group’s three largest countries (representing all together a third of divisional revenue), which benefiting from their diversified portfolios: France (notably led by Enterprise Risk, Supplier audits and Organic Food schemes), Italy (led by Social & Ethical audits, Food safety, Training and Personnel Certification) and China (led by Customized audits, Forestry, CSR and Sustainable Development); while the other geographies showed negative growth as a result of the three‑year standards revision period ending.

The adjusted operating margin for the first half of 2019 declined to 16.8% (110 basis points) due to the impact of negative revenue growth associated with negative mix effect.

Outlook: In 2019, the Certification business is expected to deliver negative organic revenue growth. This reflects: (i) the impact of the QHSE and Transportation transition which ended in September 2018 creating challenging comparables for the first nine months of the year; (ii) solid growth elsewhere primarily driven by Food schemes, Sustainability, Training and Customized audits. Profitability wise, the Group will focus on margin protection.‘

The full press release from Bureau Veritas can be seen here

• Bureau Veritas