Dear shareholder,
Dear Madam, Dear Sir,
- In spite of a more challenging economic environment, the contribution of the core segments of 149.6 million euros is down only 4% from H1 2022.
- Delen Private Bank and Bank Van Breda have further reinforced their leading market position and posted stellar performances.
- As expected, capital gains contributed less than in the record year 2022. The capital gain on the exit of Telemond in H1 2023 illustrates the potential of AvH's diversified portfolio.
- AvH's net financial position grew further to 511 million euros at June 30, 2023.
"The diversification of our portfolio has once again proven its relevance in an environment which remains challenging, with a result of our core segments very close to our strong H1 2022 results.
Our banks reported a strong performance on the back of continued increases in assets entrusted by our customers and the positive effects of the improved interest environment, compensating somewhat the negative effects of the more challenging market context on other participations. Our focus on installation of offshore wind farms and investments in offshore wind capacity through DEME and Green Offshore, have also contributed to our group's overall resilience in a period of high energy prices.
We are proud of our selection as one of the 20 companies forming the new BEL ESG Index, launched by Euronext in January. It constitutes a recognition of our group's efforts to position itself as 'partners for sustainable growth' with respect for people and for the environment. The sale of our 50% participation in Telemond in February, following a successful collaboration of more than 30 years with the German family Maas, is another example of AvH's strategy to support family businesses as a long-term partner.
The recently announced investments in IQIP and Camlin Fine Sciences (CFS) also fit with our ambition to be 'part of the solution' in these turbulent markets and to put the ~520 million euros cash of the recent divestments to work in market leaders with sustainable business models. IQIP is a specialist in foundation techniques for offshore wind turbines and as such contributes to the energy transition. CFS for its part plays a significant role, as one of the world's important producers of vanillin and shelf-life solutions, in addressing the global challenge of feeding more than 8 billion people in a cost-efficient way whilst minimising food wastage. We look forward to building out these companies, together with our current portfolio companies, successfully over the longer term with their family shareholders and management teams."
John-Eric Bertrand (co-CEO) and Piet Dejonghe (co-CEO)
You can read our press release via the link below.
Best regards
Ackermans & van Haaren
