Saint-Gobain // Universal Registration Document 2021

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Strategy The action: a strategic plan based on six priorities

The action: a strategic plan based 3. on six priorities

To achieve Saint-Gobain’s medium and long-term objectives, the “Grow & Impact” plan is based on six main priorities: positioning the Group in high-growth markets; being a solution provider; accelerating growth by putting the customer at the heart of innovation and unleashing the power of data; embedding CSR at the heart of Saint-Gobain's business model; nurturing a culture of trust and responsibility; and finally, focusing on talent and diversity.

3.1

Positioning the Group in high-growth markets

As part of the “Grow & Impact” plan, Saint-Gobain has identified clear medium-term objectives: leveraging the opportunities offered by the evolution of the renovation market in Europe, using its extensive coverage and its leading position as a solution provider; developing its role in the light construction market in North America and in emerging countries, through its portfolio of solutions for residential and commercial buildings; capitalizing on its technological lead and its potential for innovation to continue to make progress in the field of sustainable development, in the construction, mobility and industrial markets. Today, the Group already covers most applications for the renovation and envelope of buildings ( i.e. more than 50% of Saint-Gobain sales), from interior systems to distribution, including external insulation, floor coverings, façades and glazing, waterproofing, roofing solutions, and digital services. In the field of light construction, the solutions proposed by the Group (more than 40% of its current sales) form a complete range , from façade solutions to ceilings, including insulation, cladding, lightweight structures, as well as pre-assembly and prefabrication. Saint-Gobain’s high performance solutions meet the growing needs of the market in terms of decarbonization of construction and industrial processes, also improving the performance of electric vehicles. All of these markets are accelerating and are sources of growth for Saint-Gobain. The European markets , through their maturity, offer prospects for large-scale deployment of innovative approaches such as the search for solutions in favor of circularity, through the reduction of the use of virgin raw materials, the adoption of increasingly restrictive regulations (50% of countries on the continent have already increased their taxes on waste since 2018, or plan to increase it), or the use of retail chains as an essential link in the waste treatment chain. The particularly high environmental sensitivity of European consumers also promotes advances such as the growing use of bio-sourced materials, innovative construction methods and carbon-neutral industrial processes. Off-site manufacturing, which is expected to grow by almost 10% per year over the next decade in the UK, is also a source of excellent market opportunities. It is able to meet the needs in terms of building renovation (which accounted for nearly two-thirds of the Group’s revenue in Europe in 2021), reducing the environmental impact of the building

sector, productivity and protecting the health of professionals. Renovation is the first strategic priority on the continent for the construction sector, under the aegis of ambitious action plans developed by countries, coordinated by the European Commission. In order to achieve the targets for reducing GHG emissions by 55% by 2030, the EU as a whole needs to reduce the GHG emissions of buildings by 60%, their energy consumption by 14%, and the consumption of energy for heating and cooling by 18%. Until now, only 1% of buildings have undergone energy renovation every year (1) . The “Renovation Wave” plan (see above, section 1.2.1.1) illustrates this strong trend, which makes renovation a structurally growing market for several decades to come. Saint-Gobain has pursued on the continent its investment and portfolio management strategy focused on value creation, notably with the acquisition of Brüggemann, a leading player in Germany, thus strengthening its capabilities as a leader in light construction in Europe; with the construction of new plasterboard production lines in Romania, Norway and Spain; with the acquisition of a specialist in adhesives in Romania; or with the acquisition of specialized distributors in France, to complement its existing offering. The Group deploys all the strength of its offering to make the most of the opportunities in this region. For example, this results in the marketing of a complete series of solutions for the renovation of single-family homes (33 products and services), enabling long-term efficiency objectives (with a 70% reduction in energy costs), progress in all aspects of comfort (acoustics, lighting and air quality in particular), and a saving of almost 275 tonnes of CO 2 equivalent emitted over 50 years per housing unit. In the case of the construction of a new residential building, no less than 21 products and services are offered by the Group through all its brands, thus allowing considerable progress in terms of circularity (with 60% of recycled materials and dismantling possible up to 90%) or construction time (with a saving of three months, thanks to off-site timber construction). Thanks to the reorganization of its market approach (notably through the creation of joint prescription and sales teams), its proximity to its customers (through nearly 3,500 points sales outlets in Europe, combined with a multi-channel approach), and its innovation approach, Saint-Gobain forecasts organic growth of between 3 and 4% and an increase in its operating margin of 7 to 9% across the continent for the 2021 to 2025 period.

(1) European Commission, Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs – https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_20_1835

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