Useful interview with Breedon's CEO available on Youtube
Talks about recent results and also about strategy - which focuses on "Bolt On acquisitions" as a way of growing the business.
AIUI the industry is populated by a small number of large multinationals plus a swarm of smaller independent players who tend to have some operational niche whether geographical or product specialisation or special bit of turf.
What Breedon plan to do is acquire a number of these smaller players and thereby obtain synergies and economies of scale.
They have a big transaction going through at present - waiting on regulatory approval but expected to complete mid year. And the CEO said they have a pipeline containing a number of other projects which will be progressed thereafter.
Recent acquisitions have contributed to a significant improvement in margins across the business. I think the margin has improved from 9% last year to 11.9% this year and the target is 15% within a few years.
I like the down-to-earth no-nonsense persona of the CEO.
I also like that the co. has paid a bonus of GBP 500 to each of its 1400 staff in recognition of its good results.
