Financial results

Revenue and underlying EBITDA

In 2024, Heijmans’ revenue increased by 22% to € 2,584 million from € 2,117 million. Heijmans’ underlying EBITDA increased to € 199 million in 2024 from € 147 million the previous year. All business units contributed to this growth. All business units also performed within the bandwidths of the underlying EBITDA-margin that Heijmans specified during the Capital Markets Day in May 2024: 7% - 9% for the entire company in 2027.

_{* 2023 included a one-off release of the provision of € 14 million taken for Wintrack II.}

Living

Living realised revenue growth of over 21%, mainly due to the fact that Van Wanrooij was included for the first time for a full calendar year in 2024. Home sales in 2024 came in at a total of 3,181 (2023: 2,579), a year-on-year increase of 23%. At Living, the underlying EBITDA rose to € 89 million in 2024 from € 58 million in 2023, while the underlying EBITDA-margin came in at 8.9%. Living benefited from the increasing home sales, particularly in the suburban private segment.

Working

The Working segment recorded an increase in revenue of over 18%. Both projects and recurring business recorded solid growth, with recurring business showing stronger growth than projects. Working saw underlying EBITDA improve to € 47 million from € 35 million, while the underlying EBITDA-margin came in at 7.4%. The share of one-on-one projects in the utility projects business increased further. These projects have a lower risk profile because Heijmans is involved with the client at an early stage. Recurring business grew significantly, partly due to the multi-year maintenance contract at Royal Flora Holland that started in 2024.

Connecting

Finally, Connecting recorded a growth in revenue of over 24%. The segment’s underlying EBITDA improved to € 70 million in 2024 from € 53 million in 2023 (excluding release of the provision of € 14 million related to Wintrack II), while the underlying EBITDA-margin came in at 7.1%. The Connecting segment also recorded an increase in recurring business. The further diversification of the Infrastructure portfolio led to strong growth in this business unit. This growth was largely driven by activities related to the energy transition and the high water protection program.

Eliminations and the holding company

At holding company level, each year Heijmans has balance that consists of costs not passed on to the business areas. In 2024, the balance of these costs amounted to € 7 million. More than € 2.5 million of this amount was related to the project costs for reporting in accordance with CSRD guidelines in 2024.

Operating result

Heijmans’ operating result (EBIT) for 2024 came in at € 111 million (2023: € 81 million). The operating result was also affected by a € 4 million write-down on land holdings, € 1 million acquisition costs and € 5 million in retention bonuses at Van Wanrooij. The latter consisted largely of retention bonuses for employees at Van Wanrooij. Depreciation and amortisation increased to € 61 million from € 46 million in 2023. The increase was due to the (accelerated) amortisation of intangible assets, such as the order book at Van Wanrooij and the client base at Burgers Ergon.

Result from joint ventures and associates

The result from joint ventures and associates came in at € 12 million in 2024, higher than the previous financial year. The increase was driven by the higher volume in the joint ventures and associates in question.

Pre-tax profit and tax rate

The result before tax came in at € 117 million, which was higher than the previous year (2023: € 81 million). At 23.1%, the tax rate in 2024 was lower than the previous year (2023: 26.4%) and also lower than the nominal rate of 25.8%. The most important differences between the effective tax rate and the local Dutch rate concern the effect of the substantial holding exemption and non-deductible acquisition costs.

Net profit and proposed dividend

Net profit for the full year 2024 came in at € 90 million, which was 50% higher than in 2023. Heijmans proposes to make a dividend of € 1.64 per share available in the form of a cash dividend for the 2024 reporting year. This dividend proposal is in line with Heijmans’ proposed dividend policy, which is on the agenda of the upcoming AGM. This policy aims for an annual pay-out ratio of 50% of the net profit in cash.

Cash flow

The cash flow in 2024 totaled € 65 million. This cash flow is divided into an operational cash flow of € 249 million, an investment cash flow of -€ 59 million, and a financing cash flow of -€ 125 million. The operational cash flow was strongly positive, driven by the good result in the financial year combined with a positive working capital effect. The main elements of the investment cash flow are investments in equipment (-€ 29 million) and the acquisition of Van Gisbergen (-€ 8 million).

Capital and financing

The condensed balance sheet as of 31 December based on invested capital can be specified as follows:

Solvency rose to a level of 33.8% over the course of 2024 (2023: 28.7%).

Invested capital: fixed assets

The composition of the non-current assets can generally be specified as follows:

Property, plant and equipment increased by € 8 million. This increase was primarily driven by the Connection segment’s investments in electric equipment.

The increase in the right of use of assets (€ 16 million) was primarily due to the electrification of the vehicle fleet combined with a higher number of lease cars, and the addition of various new lease contracts for office buildings.

The intangible assets item decreased by € 9 million, mainly due to amortization.

Invested capital: working capital

The working capital stood at -€21 million at year-end 2024 (2023: € 80 million). In line with recent years, the development of the working capital showed fewer major fluctuations. Heijmans’ working capital requirements are highly project-specific and related to clients’ payment schedules. Heijmans used the existing Revolving Credit Facility to absorb these fluctuations in 2024.

The composition of the working capital can generally be specified as follows:

Inventory position property development

In the property development activities, Heijmans’ working capital requirement is largely driven by the inventory position, including unsold residential property and land in preparation and under construction (including planning and building consents). This item declined slightly to € 358 million in 2024 (2023: € 367 million).

The inventory of strategic land positions within the Living segment increased by €74 million to €233 million, driven by newly acquired positions. The value of unsold residential property and land in preparation and under construction (including planning and building consents) decreased by €83 million to €125 million. The inventory of completed but unsold homes stood at 5 units at year-end 2024 (2023: 9 units).

Living's inventory of strategic land holdings increased by € 74 million to € 233 million. The increase was related to newly acquired positions. Unsold homes and land in preparation and under construction (including development and building rights) declined by € 83 million to € 125 million. The shift in both items was due to a reclassification at Van Wanrooij between homes in preparation and strategic positions. The inventory of ‘completed and unsold’ homes stood at five homes at year-end 2024 (2023: nine homes).

In addition to ownership positions, Living's work backlog also includes development positions, which are classified in the financial statements as ‘off-balance-sheet commitments.’ Within this category, unconditional commitments decreased by €12 million in 2024 to €22 million. Conditional commitments increased from €247 million to €328 million, with the €81 million rise primarily driven by potential new project work backlogs in Beverwijk and IJsselstein. For Heijmans' conditional commitments, the final acquisition of land—and thus the development position—is dependent on fullfilling the conditions attached to these commitments. This includes factors such as obtaining an environmental permit or reaching a specific pre-sales percentage. Heijmans has significant influence over the pace at which these conditions are fullfilled, thereby affecting the development process. In addition to conditional and unconditional commitments, Heijmans also holds development rights and claims. This position declined from €131 million in 2024 to €107 million. These are positions where Heijmans holds the development right without recognizing the land positions on its balance sheet.

Financing: equity

Heijmans’ equity increased by € 79 million in the year under review, to € 463 million from € 384 million. Result after tax rose to € 90 million. In addition, equity declined by € 11 million as a result of the distribution of (gross) dividend in the form of a cash dividend for the 2023 reporting year. The remaining part of the dividend payment was paid out in the form of stock dividend through the issuance of 652,146 (depositary receipts for) shares.

The composition of the changes in equity can be specified as follows:

Financing: net debt

The Group's net debt position changed during the financial year to a net debt of € 10 million at year-end 2024 from a net debt of € 137 million at year-end 2023. The linear loan taken out to finance the acquisition of Van Wanrooij has been fully repaid by the end of 2024. The revolving credit facility of € 177.5 million, of which € 30 million is in the form of an overdraft facility, remained unchanged and has a term until 1 September 2028.

For the refinancing in 2023, no changes were agreed to the package of securities provided to financiers. These securities are laid down in deeds of pledge, with an intercreditor agreement regulating in which situations and how securities can be realised. These situations will not arise as long as the Group continues to comply with the banking covenants, including the financial covenants. The established securities consist of pledges on the accounts receivable, bank accounts and any insurance proceeds. This criterion applies only insofar as the Group is the 100% owner of the companies in question and, measured in terms of revenue, at least 95% of the revenue must be represented by the subsidiaries that co-sign the financing (the so-called ‘guarantor cover’).

The Group had not made use of the revolving credit facility at the end of 2024, and the outstanding sum on the linear loan was repaid in full during the financial year. At the end of 2024, the lease obligations had an impact of € 107 million on the net debt and project financing an impact of € 12 million (partly in Heijmans Property development and partly in Van Wanrooij).

Order book

The order book stood at € 2.8 billion at year-end 2024 (including € 137 million in joint ventures), the same as at year-end 2023. At segment level, the Living order book fell to € 872 million, partly due to delays in spatial planning procedures and in the issuance of permits, as well as to objection procedures submitted to the Council of State. The Working order book increased to € 923 million. Both the Non-residential Projects portfolio and the Service business portfolio increased in size. Finally, in the Connecting segment, the order book declined slightly to € 979 million.

Based on the size of the order portfolio of € 2.8 billion, in combination with the development of our recurring business, we believe a revenue level of around € 2.75 billion to be within reach by 2025. In 2024, Heijmans acquired four major projects worth over € 50 million each, the largest of which is worth over € 70 million. These are two projects in the Living segment, one in the Working segment and one in the Connecting segment.

We apply the following definition for the order book: "The order book consists of the total of the outstanding portion of work in progress and projects yet to be executed as of the balance sheet date." Projects and contracts are only included in the order book if there is a high degree of certainty that these assignments will be executed and will therefore contribute to revenue for the Group or joint ventures. Criteria for inclusion include verbal or written orders received, achieving a minimum sales percentage for residential projects, a high degree of certainty regarding required permits, and for framework agreements, only the officially awarded subcontracts.