Let's Go Beyond! Groupe Beneteau's strategic plan for 2020-2025

Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, France, July 9, 2020

Groupe Beneteau has further strengthened the strategic plan that it initially drew up during the first quarter of 2020 in order to move more quickly and go further with its adaptation to the period that is taking shape. A more developed financial breakdown of this plan will be presented in autumn 2020, when the Group releases its full-year earnings.

It is inspired by the ambition to facilitate access to the world of boating for everyone by creating simple and innovative solutions for life, with respect for nature and marine balances.

The Board of Directors has approved the plan proposed by the Executive Leadership Team, based on the following key pillars:

A strategy built around eight global brands – compared with 12 previously – covering the same number of markets segments with reduced investment thanks to their complementary features and specific positionings;
A better level of efficiency for the plants and an acceleration of development times, by specializing industrial assets and adapting product development resources in line with the Product Plan;
A more streamlined managerial organization structured around global core functions.
This evolution is fully aligned with the Group’s commitment to being a pioneer for sustainable recreational boating.

Moving forward, the plan also includes measures to expand its portfolio of downstream activities to include services, in synergy with its distribution networks. The Group’s future investments will be focused to a great extent on the digitalization of its activities (Band of Boats transaction platform, CRM, configuration feature, connected boats, etc.) and its processes (ERP, etc.).

The Housing division, the leading supplier of leisure homes for European campsites, will capitalize on the strong levels of interest in the outdoor accommodation sector and the premiumization of campsites. Thanks to its capacity for innovation and its effective management of production costs, it is targeting market share growth both in France and for export (Italy, Benelux), as well as a double-digit operating margin by the end of the plan.

The first phase of the plan will move forward in a market environment disrupted by the crisis resulting from Covid-19

The post-Covid 19 crisis is bringing in a new economic cycle. During an initial period, from 2020 to 2021, the sharp contraction in activity worldwide, which is being observed, will affect the recreational boat market. This is expected to be followed by a significant upturn, whose scale will depend on how quickly the health crisis is resolved.

With over €600 million of shareholders’ equity at February 28, 2020 and €300 million of undrawn confirmed credit lines, which will be further strengthened with a €120 million State-backed loan, and zero net debt, as well as its experience managing previous crises, the Group is therefore preparing to take on board changes in volumes, initially falling then rising, potentially on a similar scale to that seen with the 2008-2009 crisis.

In view of this, it plans to significantly scale back its production capacity over the coming months, while reducing all of its fixed costs. Discussions are underway with the employee representative partners in France and other countries.

To be able to share wealth with its employees and shareholders, the Group needs to create it first

This is the purpose of the Let’s Go Beyond! plan, which intends to achieve, when the markets have returned to their 2009 levels, operational profitability of over 10% of revenues.

The main sections of the plan presented here will have the following impacts on income from ordinary operations: