Message from General Management
This year, Rubis became a multi-energy group, returned to sustained growth and once again demonstrated the strength of its business model in a market context that remained tight.
The dynamism shown by Rubis in 2021, its ability to implement the announced strategy, as well as the very good results achieved for the financial year, demonstrate the Group’s resilience and its ability to position itself in a changing energy market.
In a context of continued restrictions related to Covid-19 and despite the increase in the prices of petroleum products, all the Group’s activities are growing significantly and are back to a level close to the record performance of 2019.
Our multi-country and multi-segment positioning as well as the breakdown of our businesses between Retail & Marketing and upstream Support & Services have enabled us to overcome many types of difficulties. In 2021, the Group generated growth of 4% in its net income, Group share and 7% in its cash flow (excluding the Rubis Terminal JV) compared to 2020. Net income, Group share, excluding the contribution of Rubis Terminal and non-recurring items, was up by 16% compared to 2020 and almost stable compared to the record level observed in 2019. The Rubis Terminal joint venture successfully consolidated its Spanish subsidiary Tepsa and generated growth of 6% in EBITDA.
2021 was also the year of a strategic shift towards renewable energies. We completed two significant transactions:
| • | the acquisition of an 18.5% stake in the share capital of HDF Energy, as well as the signature of a strategic priority and majority investment agreement in hydrogen-electricity power plant projects; |
| • | the announcement of the acquisition of 80% of Photosol, one of the leading independent producers of photovoltaic energy in France. This investment will enable the Group to reach a target of 25% of its EBITDA in renewable energies in the medium term, with a minimum of 2.5 GW of photovoltaic capacity installed in France by 2030. |
These two investments make Rubis one of the sector players that is the most committed to renewable energies, given its size. 2022 will see the creation of a new business dedicated specifically to the production of renewable or low-carbon energy, alongside the Group’s two historical pillars: Rubis Énergie and the Rubis Terminal JV. The Group’s objective is to balance the capital invested in the energy transition with that invested in its traditional businesses in the medium/long term.
“The very good results achieved for the financial year demonstrate the Group’s resilience and its ability to position itself in a changing energy market.
Committed to corporate social responsibility (CSR), in 2021, we continued to integrate CSR issues into the Group’s strategy and reached a new milestone, notably with:
| • | the publication of our first CSR Roadmap,Think Tomorrow 2022-2025, with quantitative targets for better management of our performance, including a target to reduce our CO2 emissions by 30% (scopes 1 and 2, 2019 baseline); |
| • | membership of the United Nations Global Compact, enabling us to reaffirm our commitment to the principles relating to the protection of human rights and the environment, compliance with international labour standards and the fight against corruption; |
| • | the strengthening of the Group’s transparency for our stakeholders by responding to the non-financial rating agencies that best match the profile of the Group’s investors (B rating obtained on the CDP Climate Change questionnaire); |
| • | our ongoing support for local communities via community investment actions carried out by all Group employees. |
In 2021, Rubis demonstrated its ability to return to good results and to initiate a shift towards renewable energies with leading players. Building on our responsible and entrepreneurial commitment, we are confident in our ability to continue this development while building a new balance between our new renewable activities and our historical businesses, guaranteeing our solidity during the energy transition period.
All this progress would not have been possible without the full involvement of all our employees and we thank them for their commitment to the Group.
Lastly, we would like to thank our shareholders for their loyalty in these troubled times. Rubis has always been keen to maintain the payment of a rising dividend in order to share the creation of value with its shareholders and, in general, to continue to earn their trust for the future.