A year ago, LACROIX unveiled its CSR roadmap, including ambitious objectives for the development of its impact-based activities. With the conviction that these activities, in addition to their positive impact on the environment and society, are those that will generate the most sustainable, predictable, and profitable growth, LACROIX has expressed its determination to increase the contribution of positive-impact products up to 80% of its revenue by 2030 (compared to 61% in 2022).
Offering solutions that are 100% positive-impact by nature, the activity Environment of LACROIX enjoys a steady, dynamic growth of over 10% a year from 2021 onwards (including the Smart Lighting segment), with a cumulative growth rate of 13.6% for the first 9 months of 2024.
This growth, driven by natural and lasting factors such as the cost and availability of energy, is also supported by a context marked by technological and regulatory developments in Europe. These include the Cybersecurity ACT, the phasing-out of 2G/3G networks, the European decree banning the marketing of discharge lamps in 2027, the BACS (Building Automation and Control system) decree in Europe, the new Germany Energy Industry Act (EnWG §14), and funding for water loss reduction plans (PERTE in Spain and PNRR in Italy). All these developments will encourage the continued deployment and renewal of remote management solutions for critical installations over the coming years.
This situation will benefit players who are well established in their markets, and able to upgrade their product offering by developing the most innovative, high-performance solutions.
A continuously evolving offering to meet the needs of different segments
Thanks to its ongoing investment in R&D, LACROIX is able to successfully renew its product ranges on a regular basis. The leading product in its range of connected solutions for remote monitoring and management of critical infrastructures, the “Sofrel S500”, has gradually given way to the new generation of cyber-secure remote management products, the “Sofrel S4W and S4TH”. By 2023, this new generation had become a true market benchmark, and today represents an installed base of over 50,000 units in France, consolidating LACROIX's leading position in the French market for remote management of water and heating networks.
LACROIX is also expanding its product ranges to meet the needs of its markets and customers. First launched in 1981, LACROIX Sofrel data loggers, designed to monitor flow and pressure in water distribution networks in order to reduce leakage, have sold over 200,000 units worldwide to date. Last September, LACROIX launched a new solution designed to monitor water networks, integrating the data logger (SOFREL LogUp), its mobile application, its software platform and its Web management interface, offering customers an optimized, cybersecure turnkey solution.
Last May, LACROIX's German business unit SAE-IT Systems launched a new generation “series5X” of its “SAE-FW-5” remote management unit and dedicated software platform, integrating new services to meet the requirements of the Germany Energy Industry Act. The latter encourages the digitization of energy network management, particularly at substation level, increasing the amount of data sent back, and reinforcing the need for cybersecurity and adapted digital services. According to LACROIX estimates, the market for medium- and low-voltage network substations is set for double-digit annual growth over the next few years.
Smart Lighting business unit’s new “Tegis Lite” offering, launched this month at the Salon des Maires et des Collectivités in Paris (Mayor and Local Government exhibition), targets the local authority market with a simple, affordable and 100% scalable control solution, enabling customers to tailor their investments à la carte. This solution complements the company's existing lighting management offering, which currently includes 12,000 connected cabinets and some 140,000 managed lighting points. It will thus support the deployment of the smart lighting market, driven by LED investments linked to new regulatory deadlines. Pole-mounted junction boxes connect light points to the electricity grid. Over 400,000 units are sold each year. Benefiting from an integrated design office and the Group's manufacturing capabilities, which guarantee availability within 48 hours, the boxes are subject to continuous improvement. Upgradeable by nature, these products have the potential to integrate new components such as protection solutions for LED light sources and management, as well as new functionalities enabling a move upmarket.
“The growing challenges of preserving resources such as water and energy are very promising for the activity Environment. LACROIX benefits from a highly dynamic product, solution and service strategy, optimized to meet the specific needs of each of the niche markets it addresses. Technological synergies within the activities are significant, particularly in terms of software platforms for optimizing equipment management and cyber protection. This will enable us to grow and gain time to market, while offering the best solutions for our customers in each market”, stresses Ronald Vrancken, Executive Managing Director of the activity Environment of LACROIX.
Upcoming reports Revenue 2024: February 10, 2025, after market closes
Convinced that technology must contribute to simple, sustainable, and safer environments, LACROIX supports its customers in developing more sustainable living ecosystems, thanks to useful, robust, and secure electronic equipment and connected technologies. As a listed, family-owned midcap with a €761 million revenue in 2023, LACROIX combines agile innovation, industrialization capacity, cutting-edge technological know-how and a long-term vision to meet environmental and societal challenges through its activities: Electronics and Environment. Ranked among the TOP 50 worldwide and TOP 10 European EMS, the activity Electronics, the Group's industrial backbone, designs and manufactures industrial IoT solutions (hardware, software, and cloud) and electronic equipment for the automotive, industrial, connected homes and buildings (HBAS), avionics and defense, and healthcare sectors. Through its activity Environment, LACROIX also supplies secure and connected electronic equipment and IoT solutions to optimize the management of water networks, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning installations, as well as smart grids and public lighting networks.
