Hello and welcome to the SPIE Full Year 2024 results. My name is Laura, and I will be your coordinator for today's event. Please note this call is being recorded, and for the duration of the call, your lines will be on listen-only mode. However, you will have the opportunity to ask questions at the end of the call. This can be done by pressing star one on your telephone keypad to register your question.
If you require assistance at any point, please press star zero, and you will be connected to an operator. Today, we have Gauthier Louette, Chairman and CEO, and Jérôme Vanhove, Group CFO, as our presenters. I will now hand you over to your host, Gauthier Louette, to begin today's conference. Thank you.
Yeah, good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for attending SPIE's Conference Call for 2024 Full Year Results. 2024 was yet another year of record-breaking for SPIE. First of all, I would like to congratulate our 55,000 employees on their expertise and dedication. They are the backbone of our success. Let me go first through a few examples of recent contracts. In Germany, for a Heidelberg cement plant, we are installing the first industrial-scale CCU, carbon capture and utilization, in the world.
This installation is able to capture 70,000 tons of CO2 per year from the cement production process, and it enables its direct reuse in the chemical or food industry. It's quite a complex project, requiring the installation of more than five kilometers of various pipes. As you see, we are proud to leverage our technical expertise to make an important contribution to a more sustainable, decarbonized cement production. In France, SPIE City Networks uses drones to improve project design and maintenance operations for 5G infrastructure.
The operational efficiency is improved as staff are simplified and completed more quickly, limiting use of heavy machinery and thus reducing the carbon footprint. In the Netherlands, on slide six, the high-voltage grid operator TenneT, which is our major customer, will invest EUR 60 billion to strengthen the Dutch high-voltage grid in the next decade. One of those investments is a new 150 kV substation to supply the north of Amsterdam and the harbor. We have spent the last year and a half designing the substation, and the construction started last December.
Lastly, in Belgium, our customer De Lijn, a Flemish transport company, aims to provide zero-carbon transport services by 2035. After a successful first collaboration, De Lijn reaffirmed its trust in SPIE and signed a new agreement to increase the number of electric charging points to 300 by 2032. Our services contribute to the decarbonization of public transport throughout this project. De Lijn requires advanced expertise for these electrification projects, and this is precisely what SPIE is able to bring to the table.
Now moving to our standout points for 2024, 2024 definitely was an Olympic year for SPIE. Revenue grew by nearly 14%, highlighting our strong positioning on attractive markets, as well as the remarkable execution of our intense bolt-on acquisition strategy, with more than EUR 550 million of annual revenue acquired. EBITDA reached a new record high of EUR 712 million, rising 22% year on year, as we managed to step up our margin by as much as 50 basis points. Free cash flow reached an outstanding EUR 570 million, supported by exceptional working capital performance and a remarkable 122% cash conversion.
Finally, we confirmed our sustainability leadership, with 49% of revenue aligned with EU taxonomy. This gives us a number one position within the SBF 120. Moving on to slide nine to the financial KPIs, I'm really pleased to report an outstanding set of numbers. Revenue at EUR 9.9 billion, up 13.7% and 4.3% organically, 4.3%. EBITDA exceeding the EUR 700 million mark with a 22% growth. EBITDA margin at 7.2% with a remarkable 50 basis point improvement. Free cash flow reaching an outstanding EUR 570 million, with an exceptional cash conversion of 122%, and the leverage kept as low as 1.6 times.
Bolt-on M&A was intense throughout the year, and we concluded eight acquisitions, representing EUR 457 million in annual revenue. Finally, our adjusted net income grew by 22%, and we will recommend a dividend of EUR 1 per share, up 20.5%. Looking at the growth per segment on slide 10, so this growth was a combination of dynamic organic growth at 4.3% and a high contribution from acquisition at 9.2%. Germany, Northwestern Europe, and GSE, namely Global Services Energy, recorded remarkable organic growth. France was robust with a 1.4% organic growth.
Central Europe was slightly negative organically due to contract-sizing impacts. The contribution from acquisitions was very high in Germany, representing 26.7%, and in GSE at 10.1%. Looking more in detail at bolt-on acquisition, in 2024, we announced eight acquisitions, totaling EUR 557 million, a full year revenue, and we closed three acquisitions which had been signed in 2023. In Germany, we made three acquisitions for EUR 320 million of revenue, of which ICG Group EUR 230 million in the telecom infrastructure market, and Otto Life Science Engineering EUR 75 million in the pharmaceutical sector.
In Poland, we acquired Elektromontaż Poznań, EUR 70 million revenue. It will expand our presence in the building technology sector. In France, [inaudible] EUR 35 million of revenue, which provides exposure to the growing nuclear inspection and maintenance services. Let me remind you that our bolt-on M&A is a low-risk, high-return growth strategy at the core of our model. As we do operate on highly fragmented markets, our pipelines of opportunities remain very rich. Moving now to the EBITDA margin. In 2024, we managed to expand our EBITDA margin by 50 basis points.
This remarkable performance reflects our pricing power, operational excellence, and also the accretive impact of some recent acquisitions in Germany. We improved our margins in all segments. Germany gained an impressive 90 basis points and is now the best in class with a 7.5% EBITDA margin. France proved to be a steady ship with a 7.1% EBITDA margin, up 10 basis points. Northwestern Europe continued to improve, reaching 6.3%, up 40 basis points, while Central Europe improved by 20 basis points. Global Services Energy remains our top performer with a 10.1% EBITDA margin, which increased significantly by 120 basis points compared to 2023.
Looking at the segment and starting with Germany, which is now the top contributor to group earnings, as the EBITDA reached over EUR 242 million. Revenue in Germany grew 33%, driven by intense bolt-on M&A and a strong 6.3% organic growth. High-voltage services posted double-digit growth in a booming market where we capitalized on our leadership position. Distribution grid-related services, the country's largest activity, followed through this year with the impact of the transformation of the high-voltage grid. Technical facility management activities remained solid. The very high renewal rate of maintenance contracts recorded in 2024 does bode well for the future.
Fiber route activity, where our presence was reinforced by the acquisition of ICG, continued to ramp up. Germany is lagging behind most European countries and will invest massively in fiber networks going forward. Industry services benefited from a good start of Otto Life Science Engineering in the pharmaceutical sector and a good performance of SPIE Industrial Services and Wind, formerly Robur, which integration is very well advanced.
EBITDA margin increased sharply by 90 basis points to reach 7.5%, driven by the positive mixed effect from fast-growing high-voltage services, sustained focus on selectivity and operational excellence, and the accurate impact of recent bolt-on acquisitions. Turning to France on slide 14, we did deliver a robust performance highlighting the strength of our business that covers the entire technical services spectrum and serves a well-diversified quality customer base. Revenue grew 3.1% and EBITDA margin improved 10 basis points.
The growth in technical facility management was supported by sustained demand for energy efficiency solutions, while building solutions benefited from a high backlog at the beginning of the year. Industry was driven by strong momentum in energy-related services, which are the largest contributor to the distribution revenue. City Networks was impacted by the rundown of mature fiber deployment activities. And lastly, nuclear services revenue growth picked up in the second half, and we have a positive outlook supported by significant long-term orders. On slide 15, in Northwestern Europe, we delivered a 10.5% revenue growth, topping the EUR 2 billion mark.
Momentum in the Netherlands was excellent, driven by significant energy transition investment, not only in high voltage, but also in industry and building solutions. Cross-selling between building solutions, so ex-Workshare and other divisions, has created opportunity for more than 60 clients in 2024, opening up new avenues for growth. In Belgium, the growth was robust, driven by strong momentum in high voltage and a good performance in technical facility management. Our EBITDA margin continued its expansion to reach 6.3% in 2024, up 40 basis points, driven by a positive mixed effect, sustained pricing power, and operational excellence.
The revenue in Central Europe, on slide 16, remained broadly stable in 2024, as a 2.9% organic decline was offset by a 0.4% growth from bolt-on acquisition and a 2.1% foreign exchange impact. In Poland, the high-voltage market benefits from strong investment in grid infrastructure and renewable energy production. However, in the short term, activity was impacted by contract phasing. We did see similar impacts in Slovakia and in the Czech Republic. Austria posted an outstanding growth across all divisions, with particularly strong momentum in transmission distribution services and transport infrastructure projects.
Seasonal revenue declined compared to very high comparison basis in 2023. The EBITDA margin in Central Europe was 5.2% in 2024, increasing by 20 basis points, and moving now to Global Services Energy, the revenue rose sharply by 24% in 2024, including a 13.7% organic growth. The activity was exceptionally high in H1, driven by a major shutdown maintenance operation in West Africa. Q4 was broadly stable on a very high comparison basis. GS activity is now firmly anchored at a high level. Contribution from acquisition was 10.1%. The integration of Correll Group accelerates diversification towards renewable energies.
EBITDA margin expanded by 120 basis points, reaching 10.1% in 2024, reflecting strong operational leverage and the focus on operational excellence. A look at our shareholding structure on slide 18. We are a service company. Our employees are our most valuable asset. SPIE's 2024 employee shareholding plan was a resounding success, with the participation of more than 21,000 employees from 19 countries, representing a 25% increase compared to 2022. Notably, over 5,000 of these participants were first-time shareholders in the company.
As we involve our employees in this entrepreneurial journey, we enable them to participate in our long-term value creation. As a result, with 9.6%, SPIE is in the top seven companies in the SBF 120 index, where employees are the largest shareholders of the group. Early in 2025, we launched a share buyback to partially offset the dilution of this employee shareholding plan. Now, I will hand over to Jérôme, who will comment on our financial performance.
Thank you, Gauthier. Good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to take you through our 2024 financial results. This year, SPIE delivered a record performance, with revenue reaching EUR 9.9 billion, up 13.7%. Organic growth stood at 4.3%, while acquisitions did contribute a strong 9.2%. EBITDA surged to EUR 712 million, up 21.9%, as a combination of our top-line growth and margin expansion. Margin expansion at plus 50 basis points to reach 7.2% in 2024. The strong margin performance was again driven by operational efficiency, pricing power, and discipline, as well as accretive acquisitions.
Adjusted net income increased in line with our EBITDA at 22% to EUR 420 million, with adjusted earnings per share reaching EUR 2.50, up 21% year on year. Let's go deeper into the numbers. As said, total revenue growth of 13.7% to EUR 9.9 billion, of which organic growth on one side for 4.3%. This is reflecting our strong positioning on well-oriented markets. On the other hand, bolt-on acquisitions, which have added a significant 9.2%, corresponding to circa EUR 800 million contribution in 2024. This is reflecting our intense bolt-on M&A activities over the past two years. Currency impact was rather minimal at 0.2%, primarily driven by the Polish zloty.
As anticipated during our Q3 release, organic growth on revenue rebounded in Q4 at 4.2%, coming from a weak 1.7% in Q3. This resulted in a 3% organic growth for the second semester. Slight quarterly swings may happen due to some project phasing, but our long-term trajectory remains well supported by strong market momentum overall. Looking now at our adjusted net income, it increased by 22%, strictly in line with our EBITDA growth. Into details, the net interest, predominantly the cost of our debt, which increased by 18%, 19%, sorry, in 2024.
This is in line with the progressive increase in net debt throughout the year, and this is driven by M&A-related cash out on the basis of steady and attractive financial conditions. Other financial charges remained stable and mainly include the interest cost on our German defined-benefit pension schemes, as well as, to a lower extent, the net FX impact. Finally, on the income tax, our normative tax rate is slightly up by one point to 29.1%, reflecting the slight increased contribution of Germany to the taxable income base. Reported net income reached EUR 273 million. This is up 14.5% in comparison with 2023.
This increase reflects the 22% increase in adjusted net income, slightly mitigated by an increase in some specific non-cash charges, starting with the amortization of allocated goodwill, which increased 35% as a result of new allocated goodwill from intense bolt-on M&A, and the change in fair value and amortization cost of the convertible bond ORNANE derivative, which was EUR 23.6 million in 2024 compared to close to zero in 2023. This is a purely, again, this is a purely IFRS accounting charge. As a reminder, the actual recurring cash cost of the ORNANE is a 2% coupon, meaning EUR 8 million per annum. Moving to working capital.
Our structurally negative working cap further improved this year, down to circa minus EUR 1 billion. This is representing minus 36 days of revenue compared to EUR 884 million at the end of 2023, which represented minus 37 days of revenue. So the stability of our working cap expressed in days of revenue results from, on one side, the slight improvement at constant perimeter, and on the other side, a slight offset by the first entries into the perimeter of positive working capital from the companies acquired in 2024.
This performance reflects permanent focus on early invoicing, cash collection, as well as a positive business mix impact on the working capital structure. Regarding the acquired companies, even though with positive working cap, we already saw good results from the implementation of SPIE's working cap management policy at the end of the year. To finish on this topic, let me stress the high quality of our working capital at December end and our strong confidence to deliver once more a 100% cash conversion in 2025 and beyond.
The immediate consequence of this outstanding working capital performance is an exceptional 122% cash conversion, lifting our free cash flow to an all-time high of EUR 570 million. This is a remarkable cash conversion, which evidences a strong quality of earnings first, and of course, a permanent disciplined execution. This outstanding free cash flow generation enables us to mitigate the impact of a very high M&A activity on our leverage ratio in 2024. Let's move to the evolution of the net debt. Net debt stood at EUR 1.2 to 1.3 billion at year-end and increased by EUR 469 million precisely year over year, driven by significant M&A investments.
Operating cash flow reached EUR 852 million, up from EUR 701 million in 2023, in line first with our EBITDA growth and thanks to a cash conversion well above 100%. We continue to demonstrate our ability to efficiently translate earnings into cash. CapEx remained stable at EUR 75 million, which represents 0.8% of revenue, while net interest and taxes absorbed EUR 244 million. 2024 was very intense in terms of bolt-on M&A, as already said, notably with the closing of the acquisitions of Robur, ICG, and Otto. Altogether, this translated into a significant cash out of more than EUR 0.9 billion, fully self-financed.
Our strong cash generation allows us to self-finance our M&A while keeping a very solid balance sheet. Indeed, as shown, our leverage ratio was kept as low as 1.6 times at the end of 2024. This performance is fully in line for the fourth consecutive year with our stated financial policy of maintaining leverage not higher than two times. Our financial structure remains strong, supported by well-diversified and long-maturity debt instruments. We benefit from attractive financing conditions with a 3.4% average cost of debt, of which more than 80% of our debt bears a fixed cost, ensuring stability in a volatile interest rate environment.
Our liquidity remains very high at more than EUR 1.6 billion, notably thanks to the renegotiation this year in 2024, the renegotiation and the extension of our revolving credit facility from EUR 600 million to EUR 1 billion. We contemplate the refinancing of our bond maturing in June 2026, and this as early as in the Q2 of this year. Lastly, our credit rating is unchanged at BB+, with a stable outlook. Given such a strong performance, the Board of Directors of the Group will recommend to the AGM a dividend of EUR 1 per share. This is up 20.5% in comparison to last year. That's a 40% payout ratio.
This is right in line with our long-standing commitment to sustainable and growing dividends. This dividend to be paid in cash includes an interim dividend of EUR 0.25 already paid in September 2024, and therefore a remaining EUR 0.75 per share to be paid on May 16, 2025. As usual, an interim dividend will also be paid in September 2025, representing 30% of the approved 2024 dividend. I will now hand over back to Gauthier.
Thank you, Jérôme. As you very well know, sustainability is at the core of our business, and we made significant progress through 2024 on track to reach our 2025 targets for the year 2025. Specifically, 49% of our revenue is aligned with the EU taxonomy, and we are now very close to our 50% target for 2025. Our Scope 1 and 2 emissions have already decreased by 20% since 2019, and we also have made significant progress in our Scope 3. 58% of emissions related to our procurement are now made with suppliers having set ambitious reduction targets for themselves.
Regarding our people, a key target for us is to achieve excellence in safety, and it is a constant focus across the group. While the size of the group increased strongly, we managed to keep the number of severe accidents at a stable level compared to 2019. The total recordable accident frequency rates continues to decrease year after year. And finally, our gender diversity is progressing as we continue to attract and retain key female talents. After five years of measuring our progress, the share of our revenues aligned with the EU taxonomy reached 49% in 2024, which makes us a top performer, or probably the top performer within the SBF 120.
SPIE is part of the solution and a key enabler for energy transition. Shift in the energy mix accounts for 22% of revenue. It includes electricity transmission and distribution, as well as renewable energies. Energy efficiency solutions account for 25% of revenue. This area includes all our work for highly energy-efficient HVAC systems in buildings, energy efficiency in data centers, as well as solutions contributing to industry decarbonization. Finally, low carbon mobility accounts for 2%. This category primarily regroups charging infrastructure for public transportation and electric vehicles.
On slide 34, having a look at our workforce, our employees are our greatest asset, and we now boast close to 55,000 talented and strongly committed professionals. In 2024, our recruitment strategy led to approximately 6,800 new hires with 1,500 new apprentices. I would like to highlight that 1,700 recruitments were made through our referral program. It is a remarkable success illustrating the strong commitment and trust of our employees. The voluntary turnover rate decreased this year at 6.6%, down from 7.5% in 2023, and as I already mentioned, employees are the group's first shareholders sharing a strong entrepreneurial mindset.
Moving to the outlook for 2025. On the back of a very strong 2024, we are looking at another year of strong financial performance. We target strong total growth, pushing the group revenue well above the EUR 10 billion mark, with further organic growth and active bolt-on M&A. And we aim, as always, at further expansion of our EBITDA margin, obviously translated in 100% cash conversion. The proposed dividend payout ratio will remain at 40% circa of the adjusted net income attributable to the group. And to finish, please join us tomorrow at our Investor Day, which will be held at the Aéroclub de France in Paris or virtually.
This event will be an opportunity for us to provide an in-depth look at our strategy, value creation model, and future growth prospects. We are looking forward to seeing you there, and this concludes our presentation. Now, with Jérôme, we'll be happy to take your questions.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, if you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. Thank you. We will now take our first question from Alexander Peterc of Bernstein. Your line is open. Please go ahead.
Yes, good morning, and thank you for taking my question. I'd have just two on business areas. So in Central Europe, you mentioned that there was some catch-up of the miss in the previous quarter in high voltage in Eastern Europe. And so this catch-up was partial in Q4. So should we expect a continuation of this catch-up into the current quarter?
And more generally, have the high comps now washed out of the base, particularly in Switzerland, that weighed on this geography throughout 2024? That's my first one. The second one is in global services energy. We saw the expected normalization of revenue trends after the very strong first half in this area. Now, should we expect in the first half of 2025 a noticeable decline, given that you had some sizable, more or less one-off contracts in 2024 H1? Thank you.
So regarding Eastern Europe, yeah, yeah, we're looking at a catch-up, and we're looking at positive growth for Q1 2025. And clearly, there's the transmission and distribution activity, but it's not the only thing we do in Central Europe. And we have other areas like telecom, which are doing very well right now. And for high voltage, be it in Poland or in other countries, we look at a stronger level of activity for the beginning of this year. So no drag there. Regarding high comps in Switzerland, well, Switzerland, it is a smaller part of the business, so I don't think we should dwell too much about it. But yeah, yeah, this Cisco story is behind us, and so now we are looking at more normalizing levels.
Generally, and for GSC, well, we had this shutdown, which brought a very strong Q1 last year. So obviously, we'll have a different pattern now. However, the GSC business is generally well-oriented, but it will not prevent probably to have this difficult comparison basis for Q1. But again, it's a quarterly variation, which doesn't mean a lot apart from the arithmetic point of view. And clearly, be it the oil and gas part of GSC or the wind part of GSC, we're looking at a strong year.
That's great. Thank you very much.
Thank you. And we will now take our next question from Rémi Grenu of Morgan Stanley. Your line is open. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Thank you for taking my question, if I may. So the first one is probably not going to come as a huge surprise, but just wanted to have your thoughts on the potential decision by the upcoming German government to increase the infra spend. How are you thinking about the potential impact on SPIE, whether it's about securing the pipeline, accelerating it, or incrementally positive? So that's the first one. The second one is on the T&D activity specifically, which seems to have experienced a little bit of an acceleration, as expected.
I guess what I wanted to ask was about the size of the backlog and whether you're still facing some constraints on the supply chain and the hiring there. So should we see this acceleration? Can you further accelerate the organic growth you think this year, or is it about increasing the size of that backlog and the visibility? So that's the second question on T&D.
And then the third one is on the guidance for top line. I guess with the M&A embarked, you're probably already above 10 billion. I understand the guidance is well above EUR 10 billion, but can you help us quantify a little bit what you expect for 2025 organic growth? Should we expect it to be stable, below, or above 2024, for example? And if you can tell us more about the phasing of that growth in 2025. Okay.
Regarding the announcement in Germany, obviously, it is positive for the business, that's for sure. I think it will support clearly the growth going forward and what we will discuss tomorrow at the CMD. It will also take a lagging time before it really comes into effect. We are exposed to infrastructure sector in Germany, and so the plan is EUR 500 million for infrastructure, EUR 500 million for defense. Clearly, we are well exposed to the infrastructure sector in Germany. You know the T&D story, but we also do a lot with regard to tunnel infrastructure. You will remember the lagging situation with regard to telecom in Germany, specifically optic fiber.
These are positive news. We are a bit exposed to the defense sector in Germany, but at SPIE level, our exposure to defense is roughly 2%, and not surprisingly consistent with the share in the GDP. The share in the GDP in Germany was lower so far. Regarding T&D, the backlog, we're talking several years of backlog. Obviously, it takes a bit of time between signing of the order and getting into production. We have some engineering and planning activities still to complete. It bodes well for the future, whether it will sustain the organic growth and whether the organic growth is going to accelerate in transmission.
These are chunkier projects, so there's always an amount of variation, but it will remain at a good level of organic growth. And with regard to distribution, yes, in distribution, we are likely to see some acceleration of the organic growth, which was already strong this year, by the way. But clearly, in Germany, now that the main trunk lines are being built, there is an impact on the substations and on the distribution networks, and this is what we are benefiting from that as we speak. And clearly, we had a good organic growth in Germany in 2024, and we think we'll see a good dynamic in 2025 as well. Well, regarding the guidance, again, as always, it's the beginning of the year.
There are lots of moving parts. I just mentioned something where we see some good traction in Germany. As you know, even if France did resist well, and specifically in the Q4 , the perspective in France is probably a bit more hazier at the moment. So it calls for a bit of caution. We see Northwestern Europe on a good trend. Well, we had a very strong year last year.
So obviously, it's difficult to reproduce this type of growth, but the comparable basis becomes very difficult. But we see a positive trend in Northern Europe. And I just mentioned something probably slightly better this year in Central Europe and a good level of activity in oil and gas. So altogether, lots of moving parts, but we are confident about the organic growth for this year. We think we should not be miles away from what we did achieve in 2024.
Regarding the total growth, again, it's also moving parts, and depending on the sort of acquisition we're going to achieve, we have the contribution of the acquisition already made. So the pro forma top-up of the acquisition already made in 2024 and this recent acquisition in Poland. So we're looking probably at an additional contribution of EUR 250 million from this top-up pro forma and last acquisition, which then will be compounded by organic growth. So well above is well above, no doubt about it.
Okay. Understood. Thanks very much.
Thank you. We'll now take our next question from Rory McKenzie of UBS. Your line is open. Please go ahead.
Good morning. It's Rory here. Two questions on Germany, please. Firstly, the German margins, which were up a good 90 basis points in the year. Can you just say how much of that was M&A? And then in terms of the underlying margin in Germany, can you talk about how much comes from mix or like-for-like improvement? For example, we know that transmission distribution is growing faster than average and has perhaps more like low double-digit margins, but have those margins in themselves improved over the past year?
And then secondly, wanted to ask about your German positioning overall. With Robur and ICG, it feels like you've really kind of broadened the exposures overall. So could you give us perhaps the latest breakdown by sector or your activities in Germany? And what are the plans around bringing these all together into kind of one platform? Thank you.
So regarding margin expansion in Germany, yes, we had an excellent progress this year. And there is a contribution from the acquisition because they are all relative. So it's probably a good half of the margin expansion. And then there is, first, the general progress in areas where we keep progressing the margin, even in very classical areas like TechF M. And then there's a mixed effect coming from transmission and distribution. So this area is growing faster than the average of Germany, and it has a relative impact, especially transmission. And within transmission, we also aim at further progressing.
So in 2024, we see also good progress in the area of substations, which was a bit lagging behind high-voltage lines. And we did progress in this regard. So we are not at the end of the road. We're aiming at further progress in this area. It is, by the way, and just in passing, this is true for Germany, but it is also true for the Netherlands. We experience very good margin and progressing further in this sector. Our strategy is to, in every country where we are present, cover the whole spectrum of the economy. And obviously, that's what we are aiming at in Germany. We had said for a long time that we wanted to be in the industrial services. We did manage that with Robur.
Robur now called the industrial services in a way. And it's above the EUR 400 million mark in terms of turnover with relative margin, with relative margin, good margin. We are really pleased with the performance of Robur. And then ICG in the optical fiber, also relative margin, good customer base and satisfactory start within SPIE. Maybe I could mention also a smaller one, which is MBG, which is in the area of solar. Solar panels in the built environment, so not large photovoltaic farms, but in the built environment. And they are doing really well.
So we are really pleased with this acquisition as well. And then Otto LSA, but the contribution is obviously smaller because they joined later in the year, but they're also trading at very satisfactory margins. So it will help Germany progress further in terms of margin. That's clear. In terms of platform, with the contribution of the acquisition of last year, Germany is now our first segment in terms of volume and also at the best margin of the group. So it will really help going forward, but that's part of the discussion of the CMD tomorrow.
That's great. Thank you.
Thank you. We'll now move on to our next question from Eric Lemarié of CIC. Your line is open. Please go ahead.
Yes. Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. I got three. First, as you mentioned, 2024 has been very dynamic in terms of acquisition, and you mentioned the pipeline is good. But how is the pipeline today compared with the pipeline last year? Do you think it's? Do you consider it's as healthy as it used to be? And are you still comfortable with the multiple paid or the multiple asks by the sellers?
And maybe you could share with us the average multiple paid in 2024 for acquisition. This is my first question. I've got a second question on the possible impact of the copper supply unbalance. Do you think it could be a threat in the future for your business? It's more a mid and long-term question, I guess. And the last question on global services energy division. Do you think the double-digit margin is sustainable? Thank you.
I will take the two last questions, and then Jérôme will give you some color on M&A. Copper supply, well, it's not an issue right now, and as you know, there's also quite a bit of recycling going on as well. Most of the time, especially for the transmission lines, the cables are supplied by the operators.
So it is free issued to us, and they organize the supply chain quite long in advance, and then for other types of activity like building, etc., as you know, aluminum is a good alternative to copper. So we have ways to do that, and at the moment, we do not see the copper price overheating and not at all. Regarding GSC, double-digit margin, yes, it is sustainable. In my book, oil and gas is double-digit, so that's where we should be and should remain.
Regarding your question about the M&A pipeline, I think we should bear in mind the high level of fragmentation of our market, and this is a very clear driver to building a solid pipeline. So to your question, yes, we still benefit from a very rich pipeline in terms of opportunities. In terms of M&A, there is always a question about the sequence. It's not like a Swiss clock with one deal every month. There is a certain element of phasing. So we start the year with a pipeline as solid as it was in the previous year, same number of active M&A situations. Let's see how it does develop, not necessarily as dynamic and intense as it was in 2024, but definitely a good starting point.
To your questions regarding valuation multiples, I think we are still successful deploying a very disciplined approach, and we do not vary from the range of multiple we customary apply from mid-single digit to high single digit, depending on the performance, the dynamic, the expertise of the targets we are facing, and this ensuring for value-creative M&A. If sometimes sellers have extravagant expectations in terms of valuation, we just don't go there full stop. We stay disciplined, and so far, it does allow for successful M&A track record.
Thank you.
Thank you. Once again, if you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. Thank you. We will now move on to our next question from Augustin Cendre of Stifel. Your line is open. Please go ahead.
Yes. Thank you for taking my questions. I've got three, if I may. The first one is on your Northwestern Europe performance in Q4. It looked actually quite strong, up 12% organically. I know you talked about 2025 being relatively strong in that division, but I was wondering what happened in that division in Q4 to have such a strong organic growth, and is that the growth level that you're targeting for 2025?
My second question relates to the corporate tax impact in France. I don't think you've given an estimate of the new law, of the new budget for 2025. So could you give us an indication of what you expected to be in 2025? And finally, on your margin guidance, you guide for an improvement of the margin. Could you give us maybe more insight into your work and assumption for the current perimeter in 2025? Any indication would be helpful. Thanks.
Regarding Q4 in Northwestern Europe, yes, it was strong. No, it is not an indication for the whole year to 2025. It does vary from one quarter to the other. In Q3, it was 2.9%. In Q4, it was 11.9%. In Q2, it was 6.8%. I would not jump to conclusions from a quarterly organic growth. There are elements of variation. In Q4, it did happen that a lot of things moved in the same direction. It's not a sector specifically. We had very good activity in transmission and distribution in the Netherlands. We had good activity in industry in Belgium. We had strong activity in building solutions in the Netherlands. Various contributors.
We ended up with this 11.9% growth for Q4, which is obviously not the guidance for Northwestern Europe in 2025. But the trend will remain good in Northwestern Europe in 2025. That's very clear. Regarding the margin guidance, I think we always work at improving the margin. I am absolutely confident that we are going to improve the margin in 2025 again. At this stage of the year, I will be more precise.
Regarding your question about the exceptional corporate income tax contribution from large corporates in France, as we understand now, it would represent not more than circa EUR 20 million. In terms of impact, it would be in our P&L as from the fiscal year 2025, and with 98% of related cash out as from 2025 as well as in December. That's what we understand from the law. So nothing really, really major in light of our operating cash flow and free cash flow.
Thank you. If I may add just one question, I was wondering if you could give us an update on the ICG integration and the various steps you have to do going forward. Thanks.
Well, in fact, you have two parts in ICG. You have one part which is mobile telecom, so with customers such as Vodafone. And you have a part which is optic fiber with customers who can be telecom operators or who can be also Stadtwerke, so the local operators in cities in Germany. So we are, obviously, with the optic fiber part, that's something we already do in Germany. So we're trying to coordinate the efforts in this regard and optimize the allocation of workforce depending on the region, etc. And mobile phone, sorry, mobile telecom, we are not doing too much in Germany. So basically, it's the business of ICG. So it's going well.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. That was our last question. I will now hand it back to Gauthier for closing remarks. Thank you.
Well, thank you very much for your attention this morning. As you see, we did deliver very strong 2024, and we are very confident for 2025. We have an excellent workforce, excellent customer base, and supported by a really good management team. So very confident to deliver again on our guidance for 2025. And looking forward to seeing you tomorrow at our CMD. Have a good day. Thank you.
Thank you. This concludes today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.