BLUE PROMESSES : Solutions : Turnover in first nine months of 2013

• Turnover in the third quarter of ?8.2 was strongly higher than the third quarter of 2012. 

Turnover

Blue Solutions' consolidated turnover in the third quarter of 2013 reached ?8.2 million compared with zero in the same period of 2012.

In the first nine months of 2013, turnover was ?27.7 million compared with ?54.8 million for the same period of the previous year, a drop of 50%.

Compared with the first nine months of 2012, turnover from energy storage activities was down by 50%. This drop was explained by a base effect of strong deliveries of batteries in the first half of 2012 due to the increased importance of the Autolib' car-sharing service.

Turnover in the third quarter of 2013 was considerably higher than the third quarter of 2012. It was boosted in particular by sales of batteries to Bluecar for the manufacture electric vehicles and by sales of solutions (batteries, equipment etc) to other Blue Applications companies for stationary projects in Africa, the partnership with Compagnie Nationale du Rhône, and for the construction of the Bluehouse in Brittany.

Other news and outlook

• Blue Solutions: Blue Solutions had an initial public offering on October, 30^th 2013 at a price of ?14.50, which was top of the indicative price range, giving the company a market capitalisation of around ?418 million. The offer was very enthusiastically received by French and international institutional investors and by individuals in France, and was more than 15 times over-subscribed. 

• Blue Applications (companies in which Blue Solutions has purchase options): in September 2013, the Group announced that it had entered into a partnership with Renault to jointly market full car-sharing solutions using electric cars in urban locations, the manufacture of Bluecar in France and the design and manufacture of a three-seater vehicle using a 20 kWh battery made by Bolloré.  

In October 2012, the Group launched the Bluely car-sharing service in Lyons and Villeurbanne, which already has 130 cars spread over 51 stations which is to rise to 250 vehicles and around one hundred stations in 2014. It has also signed an agreement with Compagnie Nationale du Rhône (CNR) to cooperate in the fields of electricity supply and storage. To this effect, CNR has acquired 5% of Bluely's capital and supplies its energy, which is produced entirely from renewable resources, to the service.

The principal industrial and financial indicators at the end of the third quarter of 2013 are in line with Blue Solutions' expectations confirming the forecasts given in its initial public offering document.