Growth and change

BRGM, along with four other public research institutions (Inrae, Cirad, Ifremer, IRD), is a State operator under programme 172 of the organic law on Finance Acts (LOLF). It also receives subsidies for public service expenditure (SCSP) under programme 181, in particular for its activities of “support for public-policy development” and “post-mining” Finally, it benefits from an SCSP subsidy under programme 113 to finance the piezometric network.

At the BRGM Group level

The net consolidated profit for the group stands at +€0.9M in 2024 (compared to +€0.7M in 2023). The main contributions of the entities are as follows: 

• BRGM Epic: +€0.8M, corresponding to its net profit of €1.0M adjusted for entries relating to its subsidiaries;
• BRGM SA: -€0.7M;
• BRGM Invest: +€0.2M, which corresponds to its corporate result adjusted for dividends received from its subsidiaries and intra-group provisions;
• IRIS Instruments: +€0.7M.

The year 2024 saw discussions about whether to create semi-in-house subsidiaries to support the growth of the institution’s business. This was approved by the Epic’s Board of Governors at the end of the year and could be implemented in 2025. 
Two name changes were made in 2024 to ensure overall consistency and better identification of the Group’s companies: Sageos became BRGM Invest, SM Chessy became BRGM Explore. 

BRGM Invest acquired a 21.6% stake in SAS Terra Innova, which specialises in the reprocessing of site soil, and sold 50% of its stake in CFG to Beicip-Franlab. Turnover increased for both CFG and IRIS. 

The Mining division saw BRGM Explore start its operational activity in July, in anticipation of the IRM contract being signed in September. The employees joined the company in November. 

At the BRGM Epic level 

BRGM posted a net profit of €1.0M for its 2024 financial year compared with a net profit of €1.8M in 2023. The operating result was again positive, amounting to €0.4M (compared to €1.4M in 2023). The financial result amounted to €0.8M, down from €1.1M in 2023. All these elements led to the payment of a profit-sharing bonus (€2.8M, social security contributions included) and will allow the Group to contribute to the company savings plan in 2025. In addition, the allocation in the autumn of additional SCSP funds to Programme 172 enabled a value-sharing bonus of €3.7M (social security contributions included) to be paid at the end of the year.

With €176.2M in 2024, the operating income registered in the financial account increased overall by 11.4% compared to 2023. Excluding write-backs of reserves and expense transfers, resources related to current activity amounted to €167.7M, an increase of 10.3% compared to 2023. This development concerns both non-post-mining activities (€137.6M in 2024, up 10.1%) and post mining activities (€32M in 2024, up 10%).

Excluding post-mining, the level of SCSP was €2.6M higher than in 2023. BRGM received additional funding from the Ministry of Research (+€3.5M from P172). The proportion of contracts and agreements (€66.8M) was up by €10.4M compared to 2023. The increase in activity in 2024 was particularly significant in research (+23%), which will enable us to achieve a balance between resources allocated to public policy support activities and those dedicated to research. In addition, the co-financing rates for public policy support and research have risen sharply (+5 percentage points and +4.4 percentage points respectively). Our international business is growing strongly, with turnover up by more than 60%. Once again this year, the level of orders signed was very high (over €77M, excluding the IRM project).

Income from post-mining business increased, standing at €7.3M (up €2.5M compared to 2023). The surveillance activity benefited from an additional SCSP of €0.6M to cover the additional energy costs of the pumping stations; the efforts made to limit over-consumption have enabled part of this additional allocation (€0.3M) to be carried forward to 2025. 

Current operating expenses (excluding reserves and write-backs) were €18.6M (12.5% higher than in 2023), at €168.1M. Structural external expenses increased by €2.0M compared with 2023, mainly due to corporate and other taxes. Personnel costs increased by €11.6M compared with 2023, with the average remuneration ratio for existing staff (RMPP) is 5%, an increase in the number of employees (+36 FTEs overall) and the payment of a value-sharing bonus. Net financial income amounted to €0.8M in 2024 and consisted mainly of interest calculated on the loan granted to the subsidiary BRGM SA and a write-back of the reserve set aside for the loan following the revaluation of BRGM Explore shares in the company’s accounts. 

The Group’s profit resulted in corporate tax of €0.3M in 2024.