Ballast Nedam Adjusts Forecast 2014 Downwards

NIEUWEGEIN, The Netherlands, March 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Ballast Nedam has lowered its forecast for the whole of 2014 and expects that the result will materially decrease compared to the previously reported expectations.

At the end of November 2014, a negative operating result of € 35 million to € 45 million was forecasted for the whole of 2014. However, this forecast now has to be adjusted because of further cost overruns on the projects A15 Maasvlakte-Vaanplein and A2 Maastricht. The expected cost overruns on the project A15 Maasvlakte-Vaanplein that were included in the November forecast, have deteriorated further since then. In the A2 Maastricht project, further development of the design of the traffic tunnel technical installations has led to an adjustment of the budget, which is significantly disappointing.

The deterioration of the results will lead to a substantially lower solvency at the end of 2014, in contrast to the solvency of 10 per cent, which was previously indicated.

Continued availability of credit facilities

The bank syndicate, consisting of ING Bank, Rabobank and Royal Bank of Scotland, has expressed its support and confirmed the continued availability of the existing credit facilities, it being noted that Ballast Nedam is discussing changes to its financing arrangements in the longer term with the syndicate of banks because of the deterioration of the expected operating results. The discussions to reach an adjustment of the terms of the credit facilities are conducted in a constructive atmosphere.

Annual accounts postponed to 24 April 2015

Because a certified statement from the A-Lanes A15 accountant on the A15 Maasvlakte-Vaanplein project results is not available, Ballast Nedam cannot conclude its 2014 annual accounts before the originally scheduled date of 27 March. As a result the presentation of the annual results scheduled for Friday 27 March, will be postponed to Friday 24 April 2015. Consequently, the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) of 13 May 2015 will be postponed and will take place as soon as possible after the presentation of the annual results and in any case before 30 June 2015.

A-15 Maasvlakte-Vaanplein project

In the past months the management of A-Lanes and the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat) have held intensive discussions on the settlement of future additional work within the project A15 Maasvlakte-Vaanplein. In a letter of intent between Rijkswaterstaat and the consortium A-Lanes A15 both parties are committed to an agreed financial compensation for this future additional work. This intention will be worked out in a settlement.

This letter of intent is unrelated to the ongoing process of dispute resolution. In accordance with the DBFM contract, an Experts Committee will issue binding advice on the settlement of the claims submitted by A-Lanes A15, resulting from the cost overruns. A-Lanes A15 awaits the opinion of the Experts Committee.

Ballast Nedam targets its strategic focus at successfully acquiring and carrying out integrated projects in the working areas of housing and mobility in the Netherlands and internationally. We also work on projects where we can make a difference for the client with our expert knowledge and skills. Ballast Nedam applies a differentiated market approach for its three divisions.

With further industrialization of the building process through the use of innovative modular concepts and standardization Ballast Nedam creates enduring quality at the lowest possible life cycle costs for its clients and society. The Ballast Nedam share is included in the Amsterdam Small Cap Index (AScX) of NYSE Euronext. http://www.ballast-nedam.com