Engie SWOT and PESTLE Analysis

Strength

1. World’s largest independent utility with expertise in both upstream and downstream activities: Engie is world’s largest independent utility and has developed expertise in production, operation and maintenance of energy solutions and engineering. It is also well established in downstream like water treatment, waste management and dismantling of nuclear facilities which makes it equipped to deal holistically in the industry. Engie is present in 70 nations and in various energy solutions like thermal, hydroelectricity, nuclear and natural gas energy plants hedge it from government restrictions in a single market against a specific esp. coal based energy generation plants.

2. Strong focus on research and development enabling innovation: Engie has a full-fledged R&D department catering to improved energy solutions across various sectors and markets with considerable investments over the years. In FY16, ENGIE Lab Singapore R&D center of excellence was inaugurated with focus on green-energy. With collaboration and support from Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), the lab will focus on three green energy areas- smart energy systems for cities and islands, industrial energy efficiency and gas technologies. The company also entered into collaboration with Göteborg Energi in Sweden to develop solutions for industrialization of the dry biomass-to-gas production. The company employs 1000 researchers and experts at its 11 Research and Development centers. Engie spent a total of €191 million in 2016 in R&D.

3. Steady financial performance over the years: Engie delivered robust results in 2016 in line with the guidance. The EBIDTA for FY16 stood at €10.7 billion versus €11.3 billion in FY16, the decrease as a result on non-recurring effects. The company reported an impressive Cash Flow from Operations (CFFO) at €9.7 billion in FY16. The group also reduced its net debt significantly with Net debt/EBIDTA ratio standing at 2.32 xs at end of FY16.

4. Transformation program accelerating development of core businesses: Engie with its new organization structure implemented in 2016 and the three-year transformation plan is helping in development of core business. The transformation program involves disposal of non-strategic and non-core assets and develop capabilities by investing in core focus areas. The new structure has been supported by key programs such as ENGIE FAB and ENGIE Digital and the company has spent €0.5bn in innovation/digital capabilities. Further, the ongoing performance program “Lean 2018” is ahead of track and is complementing the transformation plan enabling Engie to become more agile, less carbonized and low-risk profile Group.

Weakness

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Opportunity

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Threat

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Political

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Economic

1. Volatile currency movements: Volatile foreign currency movements and the appreciation of Euro against other benchmark currencies can significantly impact Engie’s margins. GBP and other major Asian currencies are expected to remain weak over 2017, which is a cause of concern for the company as these United Kingdom and Asia Pacific constitute major markets for Engie. Post-Brexit the GBP depreciated significantly against the Euro which resulted in increase in prices in the UK markets. Engie needs to use hedging instruments strategically to offset any major currency risk in the markets where it operates.

2. Global economic growth to increase implementation of smart city projects: Engie is a major stakeholder in smart city projects and is involved directly and indirectly in several smart city initiatives globally. Smart city projects according to analysts will help in accelerating economic growth and GDP of the country and thus will have high ROI and be highly beneficial in the long run. The smart cities market size is set to grow to USD 757.74 billion over the next three years by 2020 according to MarketsandMarkets as government allocation for Smart City infrastructure increases. Thus Engie can capitalize on the same and grow its business.

Social

1. Proliferation of smart-home devices changing customer attitudes: The increasing popularity and proliferation of smart-home devices such as Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home is expected to change consumer attitudes. There is an increasing positive response as consumers become comfortable with the new technologies and start to leverage its benefits. This presents an opportunity for players like Engie to push towards deploying smart-building solutions which will ultimately result in enhanced customer experience.

Technological

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Legal

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Environmental

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