- Offers received in divestment process led to re-assessment of the business case
- Provision of €85 million to cover full exposure
- No impact on income calculation for assessing 2019 dividend
- Balance sheet remains strong with leverage ratio to stay within strategic brackets
- Arcadis now closes out this legacy issue and exclusively focuses on growing its core business
Amsterdam, 17 December 2019 – Arcadis (EURONEXT: ARCAD), the leading global Design & Consultancy organization for natural and built assets, decided to stop investing in the ALEN associate and its participations in clean energy assets in Brazil. The re-assessment of the business case for the ALEN associate leads to a full provision of the exposure. The additional provision of €85 million, mainly for guarantees, will not impact the income calculation for assessing the 2019 dividend.
Peter Oosterveer, CEO of Arcadis, says: “We have given the ALEN associate ample time to create a return on the investments in clean energy assets. The divestment process initially provided clear indications of serious interest by third parties, however recent developments, including the unsatisfactory performance of the biggest asset, resulted in offers that led us to re-assess our exposure.
We have therefore decided to intervene now, and to stop further investments in the ALEN associate. This is obviously very disappointing, but we are no longer willing to negatively impact our financial performance and to expose Arcadis’ stakeholders to a situation with uncertain outcomes. Our local partners will continue with the operation and we will support them in their attempt to sell the assets in due course. Given the uncertainties, we do not expect the overall value to cover for the expected credit loss on guarantees.
Notwithstanding this disappointment, we are pleased with the improved performance in our core business. We have a strong balance sheet and can manage the impact. The decision we announce today will enable us to fully focus on the path of long-term value creation and I am convinced that our efforts will continue to further pay off to achieve the targets set for 2020.”
-End of press release-
Financial Calendar
13 February 2020 - Q4 and full year results 2019
For further information please contact:
Arcadis Investor Relations
Jurgen Pullens
Mobile: +31 6 51599483
E-mail: jurgen.pullens@arcadis.com
Arcadis Group Communications
Joost Slooten
Mobile: +31 6 27061880
E-mail: joost.slooten@arcadis.com
Conference call analysts and investors
Peter Oosterveer (CEO) and Sarah Kuijlaars (CFO) will host a conference call for analysts and institutional investors at 17 December, 2019 10:00 a.m. CET to discuss this press release. The conference call can be accessed via the following link, which is also made available on the investor relations section on the company’s website.
About Arcadis
Arcadis is a leading global Design & Consultancy organization for natural and built assets. Applying our deep market sector insights and collective design, consultancy, engineering, project and management services we work in partnership with our clients to deliver exceptional and sustainable outcomes throughout the lifecycle of their natural and built assets. We are 27,000 people, active in over 70 countries that generate €3.3 billion in revenues. We support UN-Habitat with knowledge and expertise to improve the quality of life in rapidly growing cities around the world. www.arcadis.com.
REGULATED INFORMATION
This press release contains information that qualifies or may qualify as inside information within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
Statements included in this press release that are not historical facts (including any statements concerning investment objectives, other plans and objectives of management for future operations or economic performance, or assumptions or forecasts related there to) are forward-looking statements. These statements are only predictions and are not guarantees. Actual events or the results of our operations could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by the use of terms such as “may,” “will”, “should”, “expect”, “could”, “intend”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “believe”, “continue”, “predict”, “potential” or the negative of such terms and other comparable terminology. The forward-looking statements are based upon our current expectations, plans, estimates, assumptions and beliefs that involve numerous risks and uncertainties. Assumptions relating to the foregoing involve judgments with respect to, among other things, future economic, competitive and market conditions and future business decisions, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many of which are beyond our control. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, our actual results and performance could differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.
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