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5. Plastic Omnium S.A. Business Report FY ended Dec. 2017

Plastic Omnium S.A. Business Report FY ended Dec. 2017

Factors
1) Net Sales
-In the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the Company’s consolidated net sales was EUR 6,768.5 million, an increase of 15.6% over the previous year. There was a negative currency translation effect of EUR 68.8 million.

2) Automotive Division Sales
-The Company’s Automotive Division had consolidated net sales of EUR 6,433.0 million in the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, an increase of 17.2% over the previous year. The increase in sales was driven by market share gains, the ramp-up of new production capacities, and the success of the innovative products launched. Specifically, sales in Europe benefited by the acquisition of Exterior Systems, while sales in North America benefited from the strength of SUV sales in the region. The Company’s business in Asia increased due to increased production capacity in the region from its prior investments.

-The Company has three major joint ventures:

• HBPO: The joint venture is owned in equal proportions by the Company, Hella and Mahle-Behr. HBPO is a leading manufacturer of front-end modules and has a network of 26 assembly plants. HBPO contributed revenue of 740 million EUR in 2017.
• Yanfeng Plastic Omnium Automotive Exterior Systems (YFPO): The joint venture is 49.95%-owned by the Company. YFPO is China's leading manufacturer of auto exterior components. YFPO employs approximately 4,200 people in its development center and 19 plants in China. It's revenue contribution stood at 458 million EUR in 2017.
• BPO: The Turkish company is a 50/50 joint venture owned by the Company and BPlas, a Turkish company which focuses on plastic processing and surface decoration primarily for the automotive market. The joint venture is the leading Turkish manufacturer of exterior body parts. Its 2017 revenue contribution stood at 36 million EUR.
  
  

Acquisition

-The Company announced the acquisitions of Swiss Hydrogen and Optimum CPV in the field of propulsion by hydrogen fuel cells. Swiss Hydrogen, a Swiss company based in Fribourg, is specialized in the design and production of solutions for the management and control of energy in fuel cell systems dedicated to mobility. Optimum CPV, a Belgian company based in Zonhoven, is specialized in the design and production of tanks in filament composite for the storage of pressurized hydrogen. All these new businesses will be combined into a new entity and Management, "Plastic Omnium New Energies", within the Storage and Propulsion division - Plastic Omnium Auto Inergy. (From a press release, on December 21, 2017)

Divestitures

-The Company sold its Truck composites business to the German group mutares AG. Its Truck composites business employs 1,500 people and it had revenue of approx. EUR 200 million in 2016. It has total nine production sites, five in France, one in Germany and Mexico each and two in China. (From a press release on June 30, 2017)

Contracts

-In the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the Company had 126 successful product launches.

R&D Structure

-The Company has 2,000 engineers working across 24 research and development centers around the world.

Technological Alliance

-In 2016, the Company signed a partnership agreement with Elbit Systems, an Israel-based international electronics company, to form a startup called POCellTech. POCellTech will focus on the research and development of fuel cells and supercapacitors. The total investment into the company is EUR 16 million, with the Company owning 20% in the partnership.

-The Company is collaborating with various entities in the research and development of fuel cells including the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the U.S., the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU).

R&D Activities

-The Company is focusing its research on solutions that reduce carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions through improvements in systems that directly affect emissions, or by making components lighter and more aerodynamic.

Product Development

LightAir bumper concept
-The Company presented the LightAir bumper concept, which is designed to reduce aerodynamic drag, reduce carbon emissions, and allow for increased design freedom and integrated electronic and mechatronic systems. The LightAir concept includes both passive side grills and active aerodynamic systems that can adjust a lower spoiler and other air grills. LightAir also uses reduced-density materials and a new front-end architecture to reduce its overhang and its weight by 10%.

Composite tailgate technologies
-The Company has two technologies for composite tailgates under development. Higate Premium is comprised of a composite frame reinforced with recycled carbon fibers which provides superior mechanical performance. Its lower density results in a potential weight reduction of up to six kilograms compared to a standard metal tailgate. Higate Access aims to provide an economic solution for A-segment and B-segment vehicles.

DINOx Compact SCR system
-The Company is developing DINOx Compact, a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system which incorporates the electronic control unit and all related sensors into a single module. It optimizes AdBlue dosing, heating and sensing functions in a single system to maximize the performance-to-cost ratio. DINOx Compact is compatible with both blow-molded and injection-molded fuel tanks.

Prototype hydrogen storage system
-At the 2016 Paris Automotive Show, as evidence of its work in the hydrogen and fuel cell vehicle fields, the Company presented a high-pressure hydrogen storage prototype capable of providing a long vehicle range with an estimated refuel time of three minutes.

Patents

-In 2017, the Company filed 141 patents. The Company manages a total of approximately 3,700 patents.

Investments outside France

-The Company announced that it has invested, as co-sponsor, as part of the EURO 240 million fundraising effort of Astor, a venture capital company specializing in the digital transformation and new industrial models. With this fundraising, Aster will assist the growth of innovative companies working the areas of the energy transition and the mobilities of the future, mainly in Europe and the United States. This investment by the Company follows in the wake of the investment in the company POCellTech, created with the Israeli group Elbit Systems, in the area of fuel cells. The Company will also begin construction of Δ-Deltatech, a new advanced center for innovation and research in Brussels, dedicated to new forms of energy such as hydrogen. This center will welcome, starting in 2019, more than 200 engineers. (From a press release on November 9, 2017)


-In June 2016, the Company completed construction of an Auto Exterior plant in Warrington, UK, which began in the first half of 2015. The plant produces exterior body parts for Jaguar Land Rover. As of December 31, 2016, the Company has invested a total of EUR 80.8 million into the plant.

-The Company plans to develop the following new manufacturing facilities in the future: