Heijmans to concentrate on Dutch market, financing
Post# of 301275
Key developments
- Heijmans to focus fully on Dutch market with Property Development, Residential Building, Non-Residential and Infrastructure
- Risk profile loss-making projects clearly improved due to agreements with clients, considerable impact project losses of approximately € 90 million
- Letter of intent to continue N23 works signed
- Preliminary net loss of approximately € 110 million in 2016
- Preliminary underlying net operating loss for 2016 of € 66 million
- New agreements with banking group, including an extension of the financing through June 2019: phased reduction of credit facility to € 122 million.
Heijmans today announces it has reached agreement with its consortium of banks on the refinancing of the company. This agreement secures the financing of the company and provides a significant step towards recovery. Heijmans is also providing a preliminary overview of the results for 2016. Final annual results will be published on Thursday 23 February 2017.
Ton Hillen, CEO Heijmans:
"Last year was a dramatic year, as we recorded a loss of € 110 million. At the same time, we are satisfied with the agreements we reached with our financiers, which have secured the financing and safeguarded the continuity of our company. We consider the confidence the banks have shown in us, in particular through the one-year extension, as an important condition to make Heijmans strong and vital once again. Although the loss-making projects have had a significant impact on the results, the agreements we have reached with the clients involved do result in a clear improvement of the company's risk profile. Particularly the agreement on the N23 project, which we signed with the client yesterday, is a key milestone in this respect. The losses we have had to recognise on these projects had a strong negative impact on the cash flow in the second half of the year. By recognising the effects of these projects now, we have reduced their risk profile and we can take these projects to successful completion on the basis of the new agreements. This, combined with the refinancing, is a considerable step forward towards full recovery. We have also adjusted our focus, to ensure that we can continue our business sustainably in the future. From this point onwards, we will focus only on the Netherlands with a tightened focus on our core competencies in the segments Property Development, Residential Building, Non-Residential and Infrastructure. The previously reported divestment of the Belgian activities and the sale of all German activities are part of this strategy and contribute to the reduction of our net debt. In the coming years, we will focus on recovery of our profitability, debt reduction, and structural improvement of our capital ratios, while our commercial focus will be on market segments in which we are strong and where we can realise healthy margins. Following the realisation of the divestments, we expect our solvency ratio to recover to above 20%. All of these efforts are aimed at the sustainable recovery of our company."
About Heijmans Heijmans is a listed company that combines activities related to property development, residential building, non-residential building, roads and civil engineering in the working areas living, working and connecting. Our constant focus on quality improvements, innovation and integrated solutions enables us to generate added value for our clients. Heijmans realises projects for private consumers, companies and public sector bodies and, in partnership with its clients, is building the spatial contours of tomorrow. You will find additional information on www.heijmans.nl
For more information / not for publication: Media Marieke Swinkels-Verstappen Communications +31 73 543 52 17 mswinkels-verstappen@heijmans.nl Analysts Guido Peters Investor Relations + 31 73 543 52 17 gpeters@heijmans.nl
The figures cited in this press release have not been audited.
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