Ballast Nedam exceeding expectations

Financial results 2020

We are in the progress of closing the financial year and can already confirm that our revenue has grown from € 874.1 million in 2019 to above € 900 million in 2020. Our underlying EBITDA and net profit for the year improved significantly. We expect to publish our final results for 2020 in March 2021.

Share premium contribution

To significantly increase the financial solvency ratio to a level above 20% and to create an excellent position to benefit from for future expansion and investments, our parent company Renaissance Construction B.V. completed a share premium contribution of € 60 million, which once again shows the long term commitment of our ultimate shareholder Rönesans Holding A.S. With this equity increase, the solvency ratio reaches the level of our best performance years again.

This represents a very strong and healthy status especially considering that the total indebtedness of Ballast Nedam has come down significantly as a result of a voluntary early repayment of a loan amounting to € 75 million. Before the share premium contribution and the voluntary early repayment of the aforementioned loan, Ballast Nedam already had a healthy cash position above € 200 million.

Key success factors

Our lean organisation and strong decentralised business units’ continued focus on cost reduction and careful tendering have paid off. Also, investments in innovation, sustainability and improved safety procedures delivered high quality standards for our operations. The strength of our committed and skilled people enabled us to achieve these results. Our ability to adapt to complex and difficult circumstances and to continuously improve ourselves, are key success factors of our company.

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Expertise

We combine our integrated expertise on infrastructure, utility, high-rise buildings and urban development. We focus on being close to markets, accessible and agile and building strong relationships with our partners. This offers added value to our clients.

Outlook: challenge to improve further

Despite the COVID-19 challenges, we believe that for the year 2021 further growth of revenue and profit can be achieved. In addition to organic growth, as a result of the changing market conditions we see growth potential by investing in opportunities. This could be national and/or international acquisitions of companies and projects, but also investments in (real estate) developments. We also aspire to enhance our international network and utilise our ability to accept and execute projects abroad. This will be supported by our large-scaled international supply chain. Our international reputation is very strong and we see abundant opportunities.

With our strong orderbook for 2021 we have a solid starting position for the year. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic we see uncertainties and shifts in a few market segments, but these will most likely not impact our total 2021 performance. For instance, on the one hand we see a decrease in demand on utility projects such as theatres and hotels whereas on the other hand, the demand for development of houses and apartments still increases and prices still rise. In the infrastructure market there is a known delay in a significant number of tenders, but our projects are still operational and continue to progress. We have a strong order book and a lean organisation that fits market demand. Despite market prognoses, Ballast Nedam is dedicated to grow.

In the coming years we will continue to improve all aspects of our company, the added value to our clients, the opportunities for our employees and the well-being of our environment. We will keep on investing in our human capital and keep pursuing the improvement of the margins on projects by focusing on a strong order book through selective and strategic tendering. We will also remain committed to strong procurement in our existing business lines.

We will embrace new challenges to learn, adapt and improve. Ballast Nedam is financially healthy and ready for the challenges of the future in the construction industry; we challenge to improve every day.