Power socket giant eyes housing upturn in 2024
The global chief executive of French power sockets and light switches group Legrand says demand has been “flattish” in the past six months in Australia as the housing construction market sags, but he’s hopeful of a rebound by the second half of 2024.
Benoit Coquart said he’s optimistic that Australia will follow the same path as the United States’ economy where there are early signs of a pick-up, but much will depend on the direction of interest rates.
“I hope it will pick up. We know the reasons why demand has been flattish in the housing market,” he said. “Much of it centres around interest rates.”
There are already glimpses of an improvement in Australia. New data released on October 3 showed new housing approvals, an indicator of future activity, rose 7 per cent in August to a seasonally adjusted monthly total of 13,647, following two months of decline. Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showed detached house approvals picked up 6 per cent to 8762 while the category of apartments, townhouses and semi-detached homes rose 8.8 per cent to 4886.
French giant Legrand’s global chief executive Benoit Coquart at the company’s factory at Prestons in Sydney. Louie Douvis
Mr Coquart was visiting the group’s Sydney factory at Prestons which makes about 14,000 product lines used by electricians, lighting contractors and do-it-yourself home renovators.
It is one of Legrand’s 120 factories around the world. The French industrial group has a sharemarket capitalisation of €23 billion ($38 billion) and a workforce of 38,000 people. It best-known brands are HPM and Legrand.
Mr Coquart said the Australasian business is generating annual revenues of around $200 million, with growing demand from large data centre operators offsetting
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