EDITORIAL BY JEAN-CHRISTOPHE MACHET

What is your perspective on 2021/22? FM Logistic signed a large number of new contracts

with a total value of 260 million during the year. Our rev- enue increased by 10%, ending up at 1.5 billion. Even more significantly, 2021/22 marked a turning point in the profile of our business activities: 60% of the new contracts we won during the year were for omnichannel logistics services. Major brands and retailers are now asking us to help them develop their e-commerce business projects. So we re orchestrating logistics flows of increasing complexity. That s something we re very happy about, since it is central to our Powering 2030 strategy: we want to build sustainable omnichan- nel supply chains with our clients that benefit consumers. At 31.5 million, our EBIT for the year fell short of target. The two main reasons are the significant level of resources we dedicated to starting up new, complex, value-added acti- vities, and the severe pressures imposed on our production resources. Nevertheless, we cannot be satisfied with this level of performance.

You referred to severe pressures, but what exactly are they? The second half of the year brought with it sharp

increases in energy, labour and transport costs. The labour market remains tight and demand driven, especially in Cen- tral Europe, and we haven t passed on in full these increases through our selling prices. However, inflation can t explain everything. The start-up phase for a number of contracts has proved to be very work intensive. All these factors had a nega- tive impact on our profitability this year, so we re now striving to optimise our costs and raise our operational standards.

What do you see as the main reasons for satisfaction with the financial year? For me, there are three main reasons. The first is that

our expertise in omnichannel logistics is being increasingly recognised, and that s clear to see in the contracts we now have in place with Sephora, Bauhaus, Maxi Zoo and Yves Rocher. The ongoing development of our control tower services is allowing us to deliver even more added value to our customers. For example, we now consolidate and co- ordinate every stage of transporting products to more than 110 countries for one of our customers. The second reason is the incredible resilience shown by our teams, which enabled us to begin providing services to a Vietnamese food multinational, even during the lockdown. Lastly, 2021 also saw the launch of our new Powering 2030 strategic plan and the reassertion of our brand identity in the form of the new Supply Change signature.

Why did you think that was necessary? Supply chains are still suffering from the double blow

of the health crisis and the global recovery. Beyond the cur- rent economic situation, underlying trends including auto- mation and omnichannel retailing are revolutionising our business sector. As a supplier of logistics services, we also have a major role to play in response to the climate emer- gency by drastically reducing our CO2 emissions.

What does the Powering 2030 strategy actually consist of? We re putting consumers and sustainability at the heart

of our business. Working with and for our customers, we have set ourselves the ambition of becoming the champions of a sustainable omnichannel supply chain. We want to be the ones who make things happen. Our strategy is ambitious: we re aiming to double our annual revenue to 3 billion by 2030. Our five priority areas are: omnichannel and urban logistics, automation, sustainability, transport and customer experience. Each of these priorities involves practical initia- tives, including greater investment in robotisation, creation of automated collection points, green hydrogen production and expansion of our transport network.

How do you see the outlook and targets for the company in 2022/23? The situation in Ukraine and global economic tensions

will inevitably impact our results, and we expect to see a decline in both revenue and operating profit. Nevertheless, our current business momentum and tight cost controls will help us to mitigate the impact. I m very confident that together with our teams we will achieve our Powering 2030 targets. ◆

transforming growth

Annual report 09 FM Logistic 2021/22