Feb 13 (Reuters) - French industrial group Legrand

guided on Thursday for full-year 2025 organic sales growth of 6%

to 10%, prompting its shares to rise to a 5-year high, as it

reported full-year sales last year above market expectations.

Shares were up almost 8% at 0818 GMT, outperforming France's

blue chip index CAC 40. RBC Capital Market analysts said

the group posted "positive results", with a 2025 "supportive

guidance".

"This performance is mainly due to the strong success of

our data center offerings, as well as the sustained pace of

acquisitions during the year," CEO Benoît Coquart said in a call

with journalists.

He called the group's further growth remarkable taking

into account a depressed building market.

The European construction market remains sluggish, hit

by high interest rates and weak commercial real estate demand.

However, investments in energy-efficient buildings and data

centers provide a cushion.

Legrand, which sells products such as electrical

junctions and EV chargers to commercial, industrial, and

residential customers, reported full-year sales of 8.65 billion

euros ($8.99 billion), topping a company-provided consensus of

8.54 billion euros. Annual sales in the data centre segment

stood at of 1.6 billion euros.

In the U.S., which accounts for 37% of group revenue, sales

increased 5.7% year-on-year.

However, in Europe, which represents 40% of the group's

revenue, full-year sales fell 2.3%, hit by a weak construction

market.

The group posted full-year adjusted operating profit of 1.78

billion euros, beating the company-compiled consensus of 1.73

billion euros.

Asked about AI startup DeepSeek, the Chinese low-cost

alternative to U.S. rivals, Coquart told Reuters the growing

adoption of open-source AI models would drive greater artificial

intelligence penetration, fueling demand for data centers.

However, Legrand did not raise its guidance on the back of

this trend, with the CEO saying DeepSeek and other open-source

models remain fully in line with Legrand's outlook.

($1 = 0.9626 euros)