Ackermans & van Haaren: Interim report third quarter 2009
(Thomson Reuters ONE) - Interim report on the current state of affairs of the main groupcompanies - Third quarter 2009CONTRACTING, DREDGING AND CONCESSIONSThanks to an almost full fleet utilization in the third quarter, DEME(AvH 50%) has realized a turnover and operational cash flow in linewith the expectations. The outstanding order book remained at a highlevel of 2,081 million euros (vs 2,127 million euros at 30.06.2009and 1,906 million euros at the end of 2008), driven by several newcontracts in a.o. Venezuela, Mexico, India, Latvia and the UnitedKingdom. This evolution also reflects DEME's successful strategy ofgeographical spread and diversification of activities towardsenvironment and maritime works. The investment program is onschedule. The trailing suction dredger Artevelde has been put intooperation early November.In August, GeoSea (100% DEME) started operating the jack-up platformGoliath, the largest jack-up platform of its type ever built. TheGoliath will mainly be used for the construction of wind farms atsea, for offshore soil investigations in far-shore deep waters, andfor drilling and hammering of large-diameter piles. It is currentlydeployed in an offshore wind farm construction assignment - the AlphaVentus project - near the German island Borkum.Early September, Flanders Investment & Trade has awarded DEME withthe "Export Lion 2009". The title rewards an exceptional exportperformance, such as growth in export, specific export strategy andfuture prospects in the export area, but also an innovative approach,growth in turnover and employment.ALGEMENE AANNEMINGEN VAN LAERE (AvH 100%) has been able to maintainthe level of its order book in difficult market circumstances, but isalso been confronted with losses on a few problematic constructionsites.REAL ESTATE AND RELATED SERVICESLEASINVEST REAL ESTATE - LRE (AvH 30.01%) continued the positivetrend of the first half of the year in the third quarter, despite arelative unfavourable market situation. Both the occupancy rate(98.43%) and the rental yield (7.58%) as well as the fair value ofthe real estate portfolio, including project developments, (536.9million euros) increased slightly compared to the end of June 2009.The increase of rental income was mainly driven by the retail sitesin Luxembourg which were acquired at the end of 2008. The increase ofthe fair value was also influenced by the investments in ongoingproject developments (Montimmo, Canal Logistics, Cegelec). The netdebt rate decreased to 47.37%.EXTENSA (AvH 100%) witnessed an increased activity level in theproject development activities in the third quarter. Theinfrastructure works at Cederpark Hasselt have been completed,resulting in the start of the first phase of the construction. Thesale on plan of apartments and retail sites in the new project DeMunt in Roeselare also started smoothly. In the land developmentactivities, a number of important new residential permits areexpected before the end of the year. The market circumstances inCentral Europe cause a delay in the realisation of the shoppingcentre projects in Rumania. The land portfolio and the real estateprojects continue to represent an important potential for capitalgains in the medium long-term.Extensa and the Luxemburg family Becca have increased theirrespective shares in the project 'Cloche d'Or' from 25% to 50%.COBELGUARD (AvH 40%) continued to perform strongly in a verycompetitive market.The exploitation activities (mainly holiday parks) of FINANCIEREDUVAL (AvH 30%) realized the expected seasonal recovery. Despite thefact that the order book of the real estate promotion activitiesremained stable, the economic crisis clearly causes a delay in thestart of new development sites.ANIMA CARE (AvH 100%), the new initiative of AvH in the health & caresector, has acquired a second senior care facility in Berlare. AnimaCare now houses in total 213 residents in Aalst and Berlare, where italso owns the property. Anima Care is in discussion regarding theacquisition of other senior care operations, and continues to work onits pipeline of greenfield projects.FINANCIAL SERVICESBANK DELEN (AvH 78.75%) has again realized a very good result in thethird quarter. The assets under management continued to increasesignificantly, both as a consequence of a positive stock marketeffect, as from a sharp net inflow of new assets from the branches ofBank Delen, as well as from the Bank J.Van Breda & C° network. Thetotal assets under management amounted to 12,574 million euros at30.09.2009 (11,423 million euros at 30.06.2009), a 22% increasecompared to end 2008 (10,343 million euros) and above the recordlevel at the end of 2007 (12,126 million euros). The clientele hasclearly confidence in the consistent and prudent investment strategyof Bank Delen.BANK J.VAN BREDA & C° (AvH 78.75%) also continues to realize a strongcommercial growth with its target group clients of entrepreneurs andliberal professions. The total client assets amounted to 5,610million euros at the end of September, a small increase compared tothe end of June 2009 (5,449 million euros) but a 12% increase overthe first nine months of the year (5,009 million euros at31.12.2008). The volume of deposits was 2,402 million euros and theentrusted funds amounted to 3,208 million euros. The loans to targetgroup clients also increased slightly in the third quarter to 1,911million euros (1,887 million euros at 30.06.2009). The impact of theeconomic recession on the credit losses still remains limited.PRIVATE EQUITYThe private equity participations contributed slightly positive tothe AvH group result in the third quarter, despite the fact that mostcyclical and consumer driven companies still suffered from the impactof the economic recession. A number of participations still showed anexceptional loss as a consequence of some restructuring measures.GROUPE FLO (GIB 47.3%) improved its operating margin in the thirdquarter compared to the first half of the year. The lowered VATrates, productivity improvements and lower purchase pricescontributed to this result. Groupe Flo has successfully launched acapital increase of 20 million euros in September.The participation of 6% in I.R.I.S. has been sold to Canon in July.On this transaction AvH realized a capital gain of approximately 3million euros and an IRR of more than 25%, since its investment in2007.The participation in MANUCHAR has been increased from 20% to 30%, asa result of exercising the warrants.ENERGY AND MATERIALSSIPEF (AvH 20.6%) has again succeeded in significantly increasing itspalm oil production in the third quarter. The first 9 months of 2009showed a 16% increase compared to last year, the result of thecontinued efforts related to the production and of excellent crops.On the other hand, the price of palm oil was under a lot of pressureand moved back and forth. Despite optimistic expectations for theproduction of palm oil and an increase in the demand of rubber, thehigher production costs and irregular weather patterns may have amitigating effect on the results for the remainder of the year.HENSCHEL ENGINEERING (AvH 50%) and Telemond Holding feel the delay inthe market in their turnover, but have succeeded in realizingpositive results in the third quarter thanks to a substantialflexibility.SAGAR CEMENTS (AvH 14.8%) has been confronted with the negativeimpact of the recent floodings in Andra Pradesh on the traditionalimprovement of the demand after the monsoon. The combination of thedelay in demand with the systematic increase of the capacity has ledto a pressure on the sales prices in South India. The production runsnow almost at full capacity and delivers the expected results.Since April 2009, ORIENTAL QUARRIES & MINES (AvH 28%) operates 2quarries in the region of Delhi (India) for the production ofaggregates. The maximum capacity has been almost fully used for thefirst time in the month of October. The joint venture is alreadyprofitable after the first half year (April 1 - September 30).At the end of June, AvH signed an agreement for the acquisition of a30% participation in ALCOFINA. Alcofina owns a 45.3% participation inthe Swiss trading company Alcotra, one of the largest exporters ofbio ethanol from Brazil. The approval of the competition authoritiesis expected before the end of November.AvH and Electrabel have set up a joint venture MAX GREEN, in whichAvH controls 27%, and which will focus on projects in renewableenergy. A first project is the conversion of the coal-fired powerunit in the Rodenhuize station (Ghent) into a 100% biomass unit,which will supply green energy based on wood pellets originating fromproducers who apply sustainable forestry.AvH & SubholdingsThe net cash position of AvH amounted to 135.4 million euros at theend of the third quarter (against 123.4 million euros at 30.06.2009).This increase can be explained by the revenues from the sale ofI.R.I.S. shares (7.9 million euros) and from the impact of the stockexchange recovery on the investment portfolio. AvH has actually evenused the strengthening stock prices to sell approximately 680,000 KBCshares. In the third quarter, 12.5 million euros investments havebeen made, mainly for the increase of the participation in Manucharand the first phase of the participation in Max Green.Outlook"The present economic crisis still calls for great caution. DEME,Leasinvest Real Estate, Finaxis and the new segment 'Energy andmaterials' offer good prospects even in the current marketcircumstances. The real estate promotion and private equityactivities remain subject to the impact of the present economicrecession and the strength of the potential recovery."http://hugin.info/134311/R/1355095/328793.pdfThis announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Datum: 16.11.2009 - 07:30 Uhr
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