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The purpose of this section is to discover a wide range of companies operating in innovative sectors, or innovating in existing sectors. Hoffmann Green Cement (HGC) clearly falls into the second category. He is a small, young, French player who is trying to find a place for himself in an eminently oligopolistic industry. Suffice to say that he has his work cut out for him.
HGC is the kind of company you want to see succeed. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee at this stage of development that success in esteem will turn into economic success. The scene is set quite abruptly, but it is to clearly identify the risks associated with the file. As its name suggests, HGC is a cement producer. But not just any cement, or rather not just any mode of cement production. There, it is appropriate to make a small parenthesis to recall that the cement industry is one of the most CO2 emitters on the planet, because it is produced from crushed clinker, a product of limestone heated to very high temperature for eighteen hours… A real abyss, in terms of energy consumption. HGC proposes to produce cement without clinker, thanks to a cold activation process. The management claims a division by four to six of CO2 emissions compared to conventional cement (known as Portland cement).
The story is therefore quite good, against the backdrop of the tightening of environmental regulations almost everywhere. On the clear side, HGC has already overcome a certain number of pitfalls, in particular the validation of the concept, the construction of a first production site, the certification of the quality of the cement produced by the Scientific and Technical Center of building (CSTB) and the delivery of the first orders. On the dark side, the company conceded in mid-September that it will be well below its delivery targets in 2022, due to the general wait-and-see attitude in the construction sector. It should thus sell 10,000 tonnes of cement over the year, against an initial objective of between 20,000 and 30,000 tonnes. Green cement or not, the economic context has gone through this, even if none of the contracts signed by the company have been canceled. The promoters control the land and have purged permits, but they delay construction starts for lack of margins, aptly summarizes the analyst Arnaud Despre, at Portzamparc. Hoping that the price of materials will calm down and that the real estate market will not seize up.
Obviously, the situation is very penalizing for HGC, which would have preferred to refuse customers rather than to run a brand new industrial tool in slow motion. We will have to wait a few exercises to know if the short-term fluctuations are only adventures on the road to success. In the meantime, management is sticking to its medium-term forecasts. That is to say, to sell 550,000 tons of cement in France each year from 2026, which would represent 3% of the national market and generate 120 million euros in turnover. And even 130 million, adding the 10 million euros that HGC hopes to withdraw from its deployment abroad in the form of licenses on the home technology. All with an Ebitda margin of 40%, which would clearly exceed the levels observed with traditional competitors such as Holcim (26%), Buzzi Unicem (23%) or HeidelbergCement (20%).
Still, for the moment, the promises are only binding on those who listen to them and HGC is still in the tough, no pun intended. Moreover, the action quotes less than 13 euros whereas it had been introduced at 18 euros three years ago. But the industrial development is clearly marked, the strategy is clear, the financing follows and the price difference between Hoffmann cement and Portland cement should gradually reduce with the increase in the cost of CO2 emissions and environmental constraints. growing.
