Bouygues

Bouygues posted €59.9 billion revenue in 2024 across construction (Bouygues Construction, Colas roads, Bouygues Immobilier property), telecoms (Bouygues Telecom), and media (TF1), with €32.2 billion construction backlog representing 13-month buffer. This conglomerate structure—rare among Western industrials—persists because the founding family controls 20% equity with 30% voting rights, enabling resource allocation across counter-cyclical businesses. When French construction slows, telecom provides steady cash flow; when advertising markets weaken, infrastructure projects sustain employment. This is bet-hedging through portfolio effects: holding uncorrelated assets reduces variance in aggregate returns.

The biological pattern is bet-hedging in desert annual plants. Some species produce two seed types: quick-germinating seeds that capitalize on immediate rainfall, and dormant seeds that wait for multi-year droughts to end. If rain comes, quick seeds dominate; if drought persists, dormant seeds preserve lineage. Bouygues Construction (€14.7B revenue, 68% international backlog) captures short-cycle projects; Colas (€15.4B revenue in roads and rail) operates on multi-decade infrastructure concessions; TF1 (€2.4B revenue) depends on annual advertising cycles. The company employs 175,000 people with different skill bases: civil engineers, telecom network operators, television producers. This diversification stabilizes employment through economic cycles.

International expansion compounds bet-hedging. Bouygues Construction's backlog at end-2024 was 68% international (up from 63% in 2021), with major projects including Paris Charles de Gaulle Terminal 4, Hong Kong housing, and Australian infrastructure. When France imposed construction tax increases in 2024, international margins compensated. Colas operates quarries and asphalt plants across 50 countries, supplying local road projects with captive materials. Bouygues Immobilier develops residential and commercial property in France, benefiting from housing shortages despite rising interest rates. The construction businesses collectively generated €32.2B backlog at end-2024, up 13% year-over-year.

Resource reallocation creates internal capital markets. TF1 generated €308 million operating income in 2024 (12.6% margin) despite flat advertising markets, funding spectrum investments for Bouygues Telecom. Bouygues Telecom acquired La Poste Telecom's mobile customers, migrating them to Bouygues infrastructure between 2025-2027 in a multi-year integration creating short-term margin pressure but long-term subscriber growth. The telecom division posted €509 million EBITDA in 9M 2025, down €94M due to depreciation from network investments. The corporate structure allows patient capital: when TF1's margin compressed to 10.5-11.5% guidance for 2025 (vs 12.6% in 2024) due to French political instability dampening advertising, construction backlog provides revenue stability.

Family control enables long-term focus. Martin Bouygues (CEO since 1989, now chairman) and Olivier Bouygues (deputy CEO) represent third generation of family ownership. The company maintains 88% employee ownership through profit-sharing, aligning workforce interests with long-term performance. This governance structure—concentrated family control plus broad employee ownership—resembles eusocial insect colonies where workers sacrifice individual reproduction to support collective success. The company targets "slight increase" in 2025 sales and operating profit despite uncertain global environment, relying on portfolio diversification to buffer sector-specific shocks. Bouygues demonstrates how industrial conglomerates survive when family control prevents activist pressure to split uncorrelated businesses.