Veolia reports strong 2024 financial results, exceeding targets

Veolia Environnement has reported robust financial results for 2024, achieving or exceeding all key performance targets despite challenging external conditions. The company posted an organic revenue growth of 5.0%, reaching €44,692M, driven by strong performance in water and waste management sectors.

CEO Estelle Brachlianoff hailed the results as a testament to Veolia’s strategic resilience and operational efficiency under its GreenUp plan. “2024 was an excellent year for Veolia, despite unfavorable externalities, with solid organic growth in sales and EBITDA, and record current net income of €1,530 million, which has doubled in 5 years,” she stated.

Key financial highlights:

• Revenue: €44,692M, up 5.0% on an organic basis (excluding energy prices).
• EBITDA: €6,788M, up 5.8% organically.
• Net Income (Group Share): €1,530M, up 14.6%.
• Free Cash Flow: €1,156 million, supporting a strong balance sheet.
• Net Financial Debt: Reduced to €17,819M, with a leverage ratio of 2.63x.
• Dividend Proposal: Increase to €1.40 per share.

Performance across key segments:

Veolia’s water and waste divisions were the primary drivers of growth, with revenues up 5.6% and 6.4%, respectively. The hazardous waste sector performed particularly well, benefiting from strong demand and price increases. Despite the 1.9% growth in energy, Veolia faced challenges due to declining energy prices in Central and Eastern Europe.

The company’s operational efficiency measures delivered cost savings of €398 million, exceeding the annual target. Synergies from the Suez acquisition also surpassed expectations, reaching €435 million in 2024. This prompted Veolia to raise its synergy target to €530 million by 2025.

Strategic moves and future outlook

Veolia pursued a dynamic capital allocation strategy, including €641 million in targeted acquisitions and €1,037M in non-strategic asset divestitures. The company continued its investment in hazardous waste treatment and decarbonization initiatives, aligning with its sustainability commitments.

Looking ahead, Veolia set ambitious 2025 guidance, including:

• Continued organic revenue growth.
• EBITDA growth of 5-6%.
• Further efficiency gains of €350 million.
• Net income growth of 9%.
• Maintaining a leverage ratio below 3x.

Confidence in growth amid uncertainty

Despite ongoing geopolitical and economic uncertainties, Veolia remains confident in its growth trajectory. The company plans to expand employee share ownership through a new share buyback program spanning 2025-2027.

“This first year of the GreenUp strategic plan confirms the relevance of our growth and resilience model, based in particular on the growth of our boosters and the solidity of our core businesses. Our performance reflects our winning formula, which rests on four pillars: a diversified geographical presence, a unique portfolio of complementary activities in water, energy and waste, constant value creation for our shareholders and sustainable growth.”

“In a geopolitical and macroeconomic context that remains uncertain, Veolia enters this new year with confidence, perfectly poised for another year of earnings growth, and continuing its trajectory towards the objectives set for 2027,” Brachlianoff concluded.