| Type | Société Anonyme |
|---|---|
| Traded as | SIX: SGSN |
| Industry | Quality |
| Founded | 1878 |
| Headquarters | Geneva, Switzerland |
| Key people | Sergio Marchionne (Chairman), Chris Kirk (CEO), Geraldine Matchett (CFO) |
| Products | Testing, inspection, certification |
| Revenue | CHF 4.757 billion (2010)[1] |
| Operating income | CHF 836 million (2010)[1] |
| Profit | CHF 588 million (2010)[1] |
| Total assets | CHF 3.981 billion (end 2010)[1] |
| Total equity | CHF 2.108 billion (end 2010)[1] |
| Employees | 64,000 (end 2010)[1] |
| Website | www.sgs.com |
SGS S.A. (formerly Société Générale de Surveillance) provides inspection, verification, testing and certification services. With more than 67,000 employees, SGS operates of over 1,250 offices and laboratories around the world.
The core services offered by SGS include Inspection Services for the inspection and verification of the quantity, weight and quality of traded goods, Testing Services for testing product quality and performance against various health, safety and regulatory standards, Certification Services to ensure that products, systems or services meet the requirements of standards set by governments, standardization bodies or by SGS customers, and Verification Services to ensure that products and services comply with global standards and local regulations.[2]
Its main competitors are the companies Bureau Veritas, Intertek, TÜV, Germanischer Lloyd (GL) and Cotecna[3] (in sphere of verification and certification services) and Core Laboratories, Inc. (in sphere of the goods quality and quantity inspection).
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International traders in London, including those from France, Germany and the Low Countries, the Baltic, Hungary, the Mediterranean and the United States, founded the London Corn Trade Association in 1878 in order to standardize shipping documents for exporting nations and to clarify procedures and disputes relating to the quality of imported grain.
In the same year, SGS was founded in Rouen, France, by a young Latvian immigrant who, having seen the opportunities at one of the country’s largest ports, began to inspect French grain shipments. With the aid of Captain Maxwell Shafftington he borrowed money from an Austrian friend in order to start inspecting the shipments arriving in Rouen as, during transit, losses showed in the volume of grain as a result of shrinkage and theft. The service defended the rights of exporters by inspecting and verifying the quantity and quality of the grain on arrival with the importer.
Business grew rapidly; the two entrepreneurs went into business together in December 1878 and, within a year, had opened offices in Le Havre, Dunkirk and Marseilles. An early innovation, still offered by the company today, was the Full Outturn Guarantee (FOG) which is a service that reimburses the exporter for any loss or gain during shipping as long as SGS can inspect the cargo during both the loading and unloading processes.
By 1913 the company had grown considerably into a leading grain inspection business and was inspecting 21 million tonnes of grain per year from a network of 45 offices across Europe. In 1915, during the First World War, the company moved its Headquarters from Paris to Geneva, Switzerland, in order to continue its operations in a neutral country and on July 19, 1919 the company adopted the name it carries today, Société Générale de Surveillance.
During the mid-20th century, SGS began to diversify and started offering inspection, testing and verification services across a variety of sectors, including industrial, minerals and oil, gas and chemicals, among others. In 1981, the company went public and the current structure of SGS, consisting of ten business segments operating across ten geographical regions, was formed in 2001.
SGS is divided into ten divisions, each of which provides services to a specific industry:
Under construction also providing 'consultancy services' - Project Management and Architectural Design.
SGS Management: SGS is organised into ten lines of business and operates across ten geographic regions. Each business is led by an Executive Vice President (EVP), and each region is led by a Chief Operating Officer (COO). The EVPs and the COOs, in conjunction with the functional Senior Vice Presidents (SVPs) and the Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel make up the Operations Council
All SGS acquisitions since 2005.
The Worldbank recommends pre-shipment inspections (PSI) as a means to fight corruption especially in developing countries. As the SGS is one of the market leaders in PSI, it profits well from these means. In the 90's international charges claimed that the companies involvement was furthering corruption instead of fighting it due to the alleged payment of millions of dollars to government members and their families. Most claimed is a payment to the husband of then Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, Asif Ali Zardari.[4][5] Further suspected irregularities were published about the contracts with Paraguay[6] and the Philippines.[7][8][9] SGS was accused in 1998 of bribing government officials to win contracts in Pakistan. SGS SA was dropped from the bid and responded by suing the Pakistan government over the allegations. In 2004, SGS SA and the government of Pakistan reached a settlement where both parties withdrew their civil claims and counterclaims. A former employee was indeed indicted in relation with commissions paid to a Geneva lawyer who appeared to be connected with Ms. Benazir Buttho and her family. The case was subsequently dropped. However, an internal investigation revealed weaknesses in internal controls. As a consequence a "Code of Integrity and Professional Conduct" and a full compliance program were instituted to make sure the company was in line the FCPA or any similar legislation. More information on the SGS integrity program is available at http://www.sgs.com/about_sgs/compliance_integrity.htm
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