John Cockerill’s 2024 order entry is the highest on record at € 1.7 billion. The integration of Arquus into John Cockerill’s accounts has of course a considerable impact of € 0.5 billion. The Hydrogen Business secured India’s largest order for electrolyzers for one of the world’s largest green ammonia production complexes, bringing its total order intake to over € 0.2 billion for the first time. This order intake is also boosted by the Energy Business, while the Industry Business and the Defense Business (Business Line Weapon Systems) lag behind.
As for the 2024 turnover, it reached € 1.4 billion. It should be noted here that revenue has been growing steadily since 2021. As with order intake, the integration of Arquus on July 1 also contributes significantly to this growth.
After the negative year of 2023 following the significant investments to support the development of the Hydrogen Business, John Cockerill’s operating income before depreciation and amortization turned largely positive once again in 2024, and amounted to € 62 million. This figure also includes the losses of the Hydrogen Business, which were certainly less than in 2023, but which still amounted to € 60 million. This business is expected to break even in 2027. Operating income before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) and excluding Hydrogen therefore comes to € 122 million.
The year 2024 was also largely impacted by the very good performance of Arquus’ operations, as well as by an exceptional and technical profit related to the first consolidation of this entity and non-recurring losses, particularly at the Environment Business level. Excluding the Hydrogen Business and Arquus, operating income before depreciation and amortization is € 50 million, in line with the target of the John Cockerill 2025 plan (€ 45 million). The performance of the Services Business Services was disappointing in 2024, however, and is the subject of a recovery plan that was already started in 2024.
As in previous years, John Cockerill’s cash position was largely positive at the end of 2024, with € 427 million net of short-term cash drawdowns. A debt discounting system was set up in 2024 to accelerate the financing cycle of Arquus, for an amount of € 161 million. The situation of European cash pooling, which has not been funded by the Defense Business for the last two years, remains balanced, and must continue to be the subject of close attention. A fundraising round for the Hydrogen Business was carried out in June 2024, and notably allowed the repayment of various bank maturities related to the previous financing of this Business. Additional fundraising will also be carried out before June 2025.
The various cash flow projections ensure the liquidity of John Cockerill and its subsidiaries, but are necessarily dependent on the booking of orders planned in the budget.
The data presented are:
– published according to the IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) accounting standards, allowing homogeneous consolidation of the accounts of the Group over its entire scope, as well as readability and international comprehension of its performance.
– since 2015, those of the Consortium, constituted of all the activity sectors of the Group, as well as its real estate activity.