QUARTERLY TRADING UPDATE
ON THE CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS OF THE MAIN GROUP COMPANIES
DREDGING, ENVIRONMENT and CONTRACTING SERVICES
With a well-filled order book, DEME has a high level of activity, its fleet being nearly fully used. Significant new contracts were concluded in Russia, China, Brazil, India and Abu Dhabi (extension of Al Raha beach contract). DEC obtained a significant contract in the UK (Chesterfield) and Sweden. 'Marieke' (5.600m³), the 1st of four trailing suction hopper dredgers was put into service in September, also the 2nd, 'Reynaert' was recently launched. The third (11.650m³) and the fourth (9.000m³) will be delivered in 2007 and 2008.
The activities of ALGEMENE AANNEMINGEN VAN LAERE evolved in the ordinary course and the company closely follows on the allocation of a number of PPC projects.
REAL ESTATE
LEASINVEST REAL ESTATE experienced a normal course of its operations. Special attention was given to the integration of the Luxemburg portfolio of the acquired Dexia Immo Lux. The fair value of the property portfolio rose by 0.61% to € 470.1 million in the third quarter. The rental yield amounted to 7.46% and the occupancy rate 96.43%.
EXTENSA continues to work actively on its development projects a.o. in Evere and Luxemburg (Cloche d'Or). The residential land development project in Wondelgem (75.000 m²) may already result in a sale of the first parcels in 2006. In Romania, 3 new projects are being examined, and Extensa started up new branches both in Slovakia and Turkey for purposes of a possible first realisation.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Partly due to an improved stock exchange climate in the third quarter, the capital entrusted to BANK DELEN increased up to € 9,984 million per 30.09.2006 (€ 9,542 million per 30.06.2006). The integration of Banque BIA and Rampelbergs is progressing successfully. Notwithstanding the investment in strengthening its commercial teams, costs remain under control and the results of Bank Delen are evolving positively.
BANK J.VAN BREDA & C° continued to evolve favourably in a more difficult interest rate environment. The flattening of the interest rate curve remains to a large extent compensated by the volume driven growth of the total bank revenues, mainly thanks to the growth of fee revenues. Also Bank J.Van Breda & C° experienced a continued growth of the off-balance sheet investments. The provisions for loan losses remain historically low.
PRIVATE EQUITY
The activities of most portfolio companies are progressing favourably.
Oleon Biodiesel received a first quota of 63,000 T for the Belgian Market, and supplies this week the first biodiesel under this quota to Total Belgium.
Recently 2 new transactions were announced:
On October 26th, GIB (AvH:50%) announced its agreement with CDC Capital Investissements on the sale of its participation (57.4%) in Quick Restaurants NV at a price of € 37.8 per share. In case of realisation of this transaction, which requires the approval of the Competition Authorities, GIB (AvH:50%) will receive € 423 million (part AvH: € 211 million) in cash. In the consolidated accounts of AvH this will result in a capital gain of approximately € 150 million for the financial year 2006. In the meantime the results of Quick are evolving favourably with an increase of 6.1% of the sales (YTD Sept 06: € 595.8 million) and an increase of EBIT of 18.5% to € 39.3 million.
On November 10th, Sofinim (AvH:74%) announced that it had reached an agreement on the acquisition, together with management, of 100% of the shares of SPANOGroup NV. This transaction represents an enterprise value of approximately € 160 million. SPANOGroup is an integrated producer of different sorts of wood products such as particle board, melamine faced board, MDF and laminate flooring. In 2005, SPANOGroup realised a turnover of approximately € 200 million and an EBITDA of € 22 million.
Net cash position
The net cash position of AvH and subholdings as per 30 September 2006 amounts to € 308.3 million and nearly remained unchanged compared to the situation as per 30 June 2006. This position does not include the expected cash proceeds from the sale of Quick nor the cash-out for of the investment in SPANOGroup.
Prospects 2006
Partly due to the expected capital gain of € 150 million on the sale of the indirect participation in Quick and the further improvement of the current results of the operational participations of the AvH-group, the Board of Directors of Ackermans & van Haaren expects for 2006 to at least equal the record result of 2005.
Calendar 2007
9 March 2007 announcement of the annual results 2006
29 May 2007 annual shareholders' meeting and quarterly update Q1 2007
7 September 2007 announcement of the semestrial results 2007
22 November 2007 quarterly update Q3 2007
Ackermans & van Haaren is a diversified group active in 4 key sectors: dredging, environmental and construction services (DEME, one of the largest dredging companies in the world - Algemene Aannemingen Van Laere, a leading contractor in Belgium), private banking (Bank Delen, one of the largest independent private asset managers in Belgium - Bank J.Van Breda & C°, niche bank for entrepreneurs and liberal professions), Real Estate (Leasinvest Real Estate, a listed real-estate investment trust with real estate assets of € 470 million - Extensa, an important land and real estate developer focused on Belgium and Luxemburg) and private equity (Sofinim, one of the largest private equity providers in Belgium, and GIB).
The group concentrates on a limited number of strategic participations with an important potential for growth. Market capitalisation of AvH is approximately € 2 billion.
AvH is included in the Next 150 index, the BEL Mid index and is a member of Euronext Next Prime.
All press releases issued by AvH and its most important group companies as well as the 'Investor Presentation' can also be consulted on the AvH website: www.avh.be.
Antwerp, November 23rd 2006
For further information please contact:
Luc Bertrand
CEO - Chairman of the Executive Committee
tel: +32.3.231.87.70
e-mail : dirsec@avh.be
Jan Suykens
Member of the Executive Committee
tel: +32.3.897.92.13
e-mail : dirsec@avh.be
