Vicat Touts Resilience, Bets Big on Carbon Capture Amid Global Headwinds

NEW YORK, NY – February 16, 2026 – French building materials group Vicat demonstrated notable financial resilience in its full-year 2025 results, delivering steady growth and reducing debt despite what it termed a “complex international environment.” The 170-year-old company reported a 3.3% increase in like-for-like sales to €3.85 billion, with performance accelerating in the final quarter. The results underscore a strategy balancing geographic diversification with a deep-seated commitment to decarbonization, highlighted by a major funding milestone for its flagship carbon capture project.

EBITDA grew 3.7% on a like-for-like basis to €771 million, maintaining a robust 20% margin. This performance allowed the company to generate strong cash flow and reduce its net debt by €85 million. The results were achieved against a backdrop of significant currency headwinds, particularly from the Turkish lira and Egyptian pound, which tempered reported figures.

Guy Sidos, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented on the performance: “In a complex international environment characterized by headwinds and adverse exchange rate effects, the Group delivered solid results in 2025, following a record year in 2024. This performance underscores the resilience of our business model, which is built on a balanced presence across developed and emerging markets, as well as a local-to-local approach.”

A Diversified Playbook for a Fragmented World

Vicat’s performance in 2025 was a tale of varied regional fortunes, validating its strategy of geographic diversification. The company successfully navigated a patchwork of slowing, stabilizing, and booming construction markets across its 12-country footprint.

In the Mediterranean, the company saw explosive like-for-like sales growth of 34.4%, driven by a sharp rebound in Turkey and strong export and domestic demand in Egypt. This performance provided a powerful counterbalance to more challenging conditions elsewhere. In Turkey, government initiatives to boost public spending and support reconstruction following the 2023 earthquake fueled a market recovery. Meanwhile, in Egypt, major real estate and infrastructure megaprojects propelled cement demand.

Europe also provided positive momentum. Switzerland saw a sustained recovery, with Vicat’s low-carbon Progresso cement range finding commercial success amid major infrastructure projects. In its home market of France, Vicat managed to stabilize its cement business by year-end, a significant achievement in a residential construction market that has hit a 25-year low. The company's involvement in the massive Lyon-Turin rail line (TELT) project also contributed positively.

Conversely, the Americas region faced a slowdown, with results contracting 16.2% on a like-for-like EBITDA basis. This was primarily due to weakness in the United States, where high mortgage rates dampened the residential market and political uncertainty weighed on non-residential activity. This was partially offset by strong performance in Brazil, where market momentum and the acquisition of concrete producer Realmix bolstered growth. The slowdown in the U.S. mirrors broader industry trends, though federal infrastructure spending has provided some support to the non-residential sector.

Building a Greener Future with Carbon Capture

Beyond navigating current market dynamics, Vicat is making substantial investments in its long-term sustainability. The most significant development is the progress on its VAIA (Vicat Advanced Industrial Alliance) project, a cornerstone of its plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The company announced it has secured a total of €340 million in subsidies from the European Innovation Fund and the French government for the project, which is estimated to cost €700 million before subsidies.

The VAIA project will implement carbon capture technology at the Montalieu-Veyrieu cement plant in France, aiming to capture one million tons of CO2 per year. This is a critical step for a hard-to-abate industry where up to two-thirds of emissions come from the chemical process of calcination, which cannot be eliminated by simply switching fuels. Vicat’s move is part of a broader industry trend, with competitors like Holcim and Heidelberg Materials also investing heavily in Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) as a key pathway to deep decarbonization.

The company’s climate efforts extend beyond this flagship project. In 2025, Vicat increased its use of alternative fuels to 37.4%, replacing 1.2 million tonnes of coal. It also reported a 3.6% reduction in direct specific CO2 emissions in Europe, driven by a lower clinker factor and the increased use of its DECA low-carbon cement range.

Financial Discipline and Cautious Optimism

Amidst its strategic investments, Vicat maintained a strong focus on financial discipline. The company reduced its net debt to €1.15 billion, bringing its leverage ratio down to 1.49x from 1.58x a year earlier. This positions the company favorably against industry peers, many of whom target similar leverage ratios, and provides a solid foundation for future investments and shareholder returns. In line with this, the Board will propose a dividend of €2.00 per share, highlighting a stable distribution policy that has not seen a reduction in 30 years.

Looking ahead to 2026, Vicat projects slight like-for-like growth in both sales and EBITDA, adopting a tone of cautious optimism. This guidance acknowledges persistent macroeconomic uncertainties and volatile exchange rates but is underpinned by specific operational drivers. The company expects to benefit from the full-year contribution of its new, more efficient kiln 6 in Senegal, the integration of Realmix in Brazil, and continued demand from major infrastructure projects in Europe.

While visibility remains limited in key markets like the U.S. and India, Vicat’s diversified portfolio and progress on its decarbonization roadmap appear to have positioned it to navigate the complexities of the year ahead. The company's ability to balance near-term operational challenges with long-term strategic investments will remain critical as it works toward its 2026 targets and its ambitious 2050 climate goals.