Belgium: Ackermans & van Haaren Announces 2011 Results

The Board of Directors of Ackermans & van Haaren NV announces that the consolidated net result (group share) increased by 10% to € 177.5 mio (compared to € 160.8 mio in 2010).

The strong performance of both Delen Private Bank and Bank J.Van Breda & Co provided a record contribution to the group’s result from the Private Banking segment.

• The dredging company DEME stabilised its turnover at a high level. The profit contribution decreased slightly due to a loss making project in Santos (Brazil) in the first half-year of 2011.

• Sipef’s rising profits, coupled with AvH’s higher participation percentage, resulted in an increased contribution from the Energy & Resources segment.

• Significant restructuring charges at Hertel overshadowed the more positive results of the other companies in AvH’s Development Capital portfolio.

• The absence of project development profits from AvH’s real estate activities led to a lower profit contribution from this segment. The other real estate activities performed as expected.

The Board of Directors proposes the Ordinary General Meeting of May 29, 2012 to increase the gross dividend to € 1.64 per share (€ 1.55 in 2010).

DEME

Thanks to its strong international presence and a diversified order book, DEME (AvH 50%) succeeded in weathering the effects of the economic storm fairly well in 2011. The revenue of € 1,766 mio almost equalled that of the record year in 2010 (€ 1,801 mio), thanks to a well utilised fleet.

The traditional dredging activities represented 64% of DEME’s turnover in 2011. DEME’s related specialised activities, and in particular environmental engineering, services to the oil, gas and mining sector, extraction of building aggregates from the sea, and the construction of offshore wind turbine farms, together represent the remaining 36% of the group turnover. In this area in particular, the activity of GeoSea, the subsidiary of DEME that is responsible for the construction of largescale offshore wind farms such as the C-Power wind farm on the Thornton Bank off the Belgian coast, increased significantly (+57%) in 2011 compared to last year.

As a result of the problems experienced by the environmental subsidiary DEC Ecoterres with regard to soil remediation work in Santos (Brazil), the EBITDA of DEME in 2011 amounted to € 300.4 mio (2010: € 328.7 mio) and the net result amounted to € 104.1 mio (2010: € 116.5 mio). The setback at Santos was already communicated in August at the time of the interim results, and this project was fully completed in the first half of 2011.

DEME received significant new orders in the course of 2011, including orders for port infrastructure works in Gladstone (Australia), for the next phase of the construction of an offshore wind turbine farm on the Thornton Bank (Belgium), and for the construction of artificial islands for the extraction of oil in Abu Dhabi.

Moreover, DEME was able to renew its contract for maintenance work off the Belgian coast for a period of 5 years. DEME’s order book thereby increased to € 2,404 mio as at December 31, 2011 (compared to € 1,935 mio as at December 31, 2010). In addition, it won a major dredging contract (€ 916 mio) in mid- February for the construction of the Wheatstone LNG production plants on the west coast of Australia.

DEME has consistently continued to invest in its fleet during 2011. Six new vessels were put into service: the fall-pipe vessel Flintstone (19,000 tonnes), the gravel trailer dredger Victor Horta (5,000 m³), the rock cutters Al Jarraf and Amazon (both 12,860 kW), the trailer dredger Breughel (11,000 m³) and the megatrailer dredger Congo River (30,000 m³).

DEME also took a number of initiatives for new applications of its knowhow and technology: DEME Blue Energy focuses on the production of power from tides and waves, OceanFlORE (a joint venture with IHC Merwede) offers solutions for the deep-sea extraction of minerals, and Purazur specialises in the high-tech treatment of industrial effluent.

Algemene Aannemingen Van Laere

Algemene Aannemingen Van Laere (AvH 100%) realised a satisfactory increase in its turnover in 2011 (€ 137 mio), up 18% from the prior year, and in its net profit (€ 1.7 mio compared to € 0.5 mio in 2010). Van Laere acquired the Construction branch of property developer Vooruitzicht on August 1, 2011, thus strengthening its position in the Belgian market. By developing complementary non-core activities, such as the management of car parks, the group aims to become less sensitive to the economic cycle in the future.

Rent-A-Port

Rent-A-Port (AvH 45%) went through a year of transition in 2011. Towards the year-end, a major contract was signed in Vietnam for the sale of 102 hectares in the area of Dinh Vu. This should have a positive effect on Rent-A-Port’s profitability in the coming years. Rent- A-Port expanded its consulting activities in Oman and Qatar during 2011. The income from these activities was only partially sufficient to cover the operating costs and the cost of developing the OK Free Trade Zone project in Nigeria.

NMP

NMP (AvH 75%) achieved results in 2011 that were in line with expectations (turnover of € 12.5 mio and net profit of € 2.1 mio). As expected, no extensions were made to the network during this year, and no major modifications were carried out. Similar results are expected for 2012.

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Dredging Today Staff, March 2, 2012