1999 The year in review
Get more with the world’s Power & Control specialist
1999 Profile
Schneider Electric serves customers in with more than
130 150 150
countries production facilities, service centers sales outlets.
and
9,000
Our
67,500 8.4
team members
generated sales of billion euros in 1999 of which was outside of France)
(82%
in electrical distribution, industrial control and automation, raising net income by
18% 481
to
million euros.
In 1999, 5.3% of sales were invested in research and development.
1 = FF 6.55957
Interview with the Chairman
“To grow our enterprise, we’re pushing back our borders”
Schneider Electric is pursuing an accelerated growth strategy. Henri Lachmann explains why and talks about the progress made so far.
Growing Schneider Electric on a bigger and faster scale than we’ve done in recent years is a tough challenge, but I can assure you that it’s a realistic goal. Our market position is a crucial asset here. Thanks to our four international brands—Merlin Gerin, Modicon, Square D and Telemecanique—Schneider Electric is the only worldwide specialist in electrical distribution, industrial control and automation. Since we concentrate exclusively on these businesses, we’re in closer touch with our customers and we can dedicate more resources to these segments than the big conglomerates. At the same time, Schneider Electric is a truly multinational enterprise, which means that we can meet the globalization challenges that national specialists can’t deal with efficiently. We’re using this unique position to conduct a more aggressive business policy and to expand our enterprise through faster growth. For the past several months now, I’ve been pleased to see that this process is gaining momentum. It’s being driven by fundamentals that allow profitable, long-term growth. Regarding the Schneider 2000+ program, we’re ahead of schedule on our targets for