DE BILT, the Netherlands, August 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Recommended public offer by Sweco launched, divestment of remaining French activities completed 

Grontmij N.V. a listed consulting & engineering company with strong European presence, today announces its results for the second quarter and first half of 2015. In the second quarter, markets did not significantly change compared to the first quarter of 2015. EBITA margin excluding exceptional items in the second quarter of 2015 was 2.2% (Q2 2014: 2.8%), mainly impacted by weak performance in the Netherlands. On 1 June 2015, Grontmij and Sweco jointly announced the intended public offer by Sweco for all issued and outstanding ordinary shares in the capital of Grontmij. The offer process is progressing on schedule, with the recommended public offer launched on 13 July 2015. Grontmij has convened an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to be held on 28 August 2015 at 2pm in Amsterdam. For full details please refer to the convocation press release and agenda with notes as published on our website. On 30 June 2015, Grontmij announced the completion of the divestment of all remaining French activities, which had a significant negative effect on the net result for the Group, albeit in line with earlier announced guidance.  

Key points Q2 2015 

• Total revenue Q2 2015 of € 168.8 million (Q2 2014: € 168.5 million), with organic decline of 0.5%. Net revenue Q2 2015 below last year at € 139.8 million (Q2 2014: € 140.5 million), with organic decline of 1.2%
• EBITA excluding exceptional items Q2 2015 € 3.7 million (Q2 2014: € 4.7 million). Improvements in the UK and Sweden, were offset by weak results in the Netherlands; EBITA margin excluding exceptional items was 2.2% in Q2 2015, compared to 2.8% last year
• Exceptional items in the second quarter were - € 2.9 million (Q2 2014: - € 5.1 million) and included costs related to the merger process and restructuring measures in the Netherlands and a gain (€ 1.5 million) on the sale of one of the non-core assets
• Net result from continuing operations in Q2 2015 was - € 6.2 million (Q2 2014 - € 10.0 million), due to higher operating results (after exceptional items) and lower finance expenses. Net result from continuing and discontinued operations in Q2 2015 was - € 33.5 million (Q2 2014:  - € 14.6 million) and includes    € 27.2 million net loss resulting from the discontinued French activities
• Trade working capital (TWC) at the end of Q2 2015 was 16.3% (Q2 2014: 17.1%). The underlying improvement in TWC is 1.2% as the year-on-year business mix change has a negative impact of 0.4%
• Net debt for covenants per end of Q2 2015 was € 66.1 million (Q2 2014: € 65.8 million).

Michiel Jaski, CEO Grontmij N.V: 'The most important event in the second quarter was the announcement by Grontmij and Sweco on the agreement to join forces to become the leading engineering consultancy in Europe. Grontmij has pursued the Back on Track strategy in recent years, bringing about financial stability and achieving the necessary improvements in our governance and operations. The combination with Sweco will allow us to accelerate and invest more in operational improvements to reach our long-term strategic goals. Since the joint announcement with Sweco on 1 June 2015 we are progressing on schedule with both the public offer and the preparations for the integration agenda. Today we publish our results for Q2 showing a mixed picture for our key operating countries. Positive developments in especially the UK and Germany resulted in strong performances, but on the other hand the pressure on the market and our operations in the Netherlands continued. Another corporate milestone in Q2 was the divestment of all our remaining activities in France, enabling us to close the book on a difficult episode in our recent history. Looking forward, we expect the settlement of the offer and the start of the integration of Grontmij and Sweco to take place in the second half of 2015.' 

For the full press release, please visit our website http://www.grontmij.com 

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SOURCE Grontmij Business Services BV