Plastic Omnium - 2018 Registration Document

INTEGRATED REPORT Interview with Laurent burelle Laurent Burelle, Chairman and CEO INTERVIEW WITH Brexit, the US-China trade war, tighter regulations and new consumption patterns are putting the automotive industry to the test. How have they impacted Plastic Omnium? We have indeed been facing headwinds in a number of areas for several months now. Driven by protectionist trends, the slowdown in the Chinese economy and the entry into force of a new type-approval procedure in Europe, automobile production fell 1% in 2018 – its first decline since 2009. The automotive industry, which was already facing the environmental challenge and new consumer habits, now also has to contend with a slowdown in the market that up until now had been growing. How can Plastic Omnium weather the slowdown, and for how long? First, let’s keep in mind that despite the complex environment, we continued to grow and to outperform the world automotive market. Our 2018 results are sound, and so is our financial structure. Following record capital investments, our cash-flow generation has reached very high levels. Beyond these results, we draw our strength from our ability to plan ahead. To be on the safe side, we have decided to manage the group based on stable global automobile production over the coming three-year period. We will continue to invest and to take advantage of our well-filled order book, but we will strengthen our emphasis on frugality, flexibility and selective order-taking. A market under pressure Sound fundamentals www.plasticomnium.com PLASTIC OMNIUM 2018 REGISTRATION DOCUMENT 4