Omega Pharma has survived the crisis of 2009

Omega Pharma has well survived the crisis year 2009. Thanks to an efficient cost policy, the specialist was able to catch the decreasing profit margins in medicines, which not request a prescription, and in care products. That’s why the board of directors proposes a dividend which will be 33 percent higher.

In Omega Pharma the profit increased with 41 percent. This is much more than the analysts had predicted. But these analysts hadn’t calculated the unique income of the sale in the interest of Arseus.

The strong increased profit is due for a huge part to the 15 million euros which Omega Pharma won by the sale in the interest of Arseus. The fear that the decreasing profits would totally destroy the single income, is a false statement.

That fear was risen after the company has already given the update of the sales in January. This update was higher than expected, but the figures showed that the product mix in the 4th quarter had moved in the direction of the generic products which cause less profit. But this trend has come to an end. Another reason for the moved production mix was the strategy used in 2009. In a crisis year it’s necessary to support your products in an adapted way.

An efficient cost policy has rescued the moved production mix. Omega Pharma had the plan to decrease the costs with 30 million euro. That plan is rightly succeed. Also lower financial expenses have contributed to the increased profit. The financial results have increased from -40 million euro to -25 million euro, due to lower interests rates and reduced debts.

I think Marc Coucke, the CEO of Omega Pharma, has done a good job. Omega Pharma is a company with huge sales in the growth countries . Besides this year Omega Pharma has started a joint venture in India. He has well fought against the crisis.

On the other hand, a lot of people think Omega pharma is a grow company. The rate has now a value that is the same as the rate has 10 years ago. So in my opinion, Omega Pharma isn’t any longer a grow company.

http://www.tijd.be/nieuws/ondernemingen_chemie_farma/Omega_Pharma_verhoogt_dividend_met_een_derde.8890382-429.art

Studio 100 goes to the US

The production company Studio 100 will make an American remake of the teenage soap The House of Anubis for the American channel Nickelodeon US. It’s the first time that the American channel asked for a remake of an European television program.

The House of Anubis is a live-action series, it is a coproduction of Nickelodeon in the Netherlands and the Belgium’s Studio 100. The series has already a strong international career. In Belgium and the Netherlands it already starts its fifth season. They also have a remake in Germany and there are haggles with Sweden and Mexico.

The driving forces behind the production company Studio 100 are Gert Verhulst and Hans Bourlon. In the 1980s and 1990s, Gert was the presenter of various programs, and he was owner of the popular dog, Samson. Hans worked mostly behind the scenes. In 1996, Studio 100 was founded. It is a cooperation between Gert Verhulst, Hans Bourlon and Danny Verbiest. In addition to the many programs, numerous film and theatre shows Studio 100 is also known for its theme parks, like Plopsaland.

The production company is truly a success story. After Gert and Hans have conquered Belgium and the Netherlands, they would aim at the rest of the world. And it certainly works. For example, Bumba is being broadcast in more than 40 countries (like India, Canada, and Croatia).

I think every company wants to create such a unique successful story. It all starts with a story about a speaking dog and now they are the largest provider of Family and Children entertainment in the Benelux. And after becoming a successful player on this market, Studio100 initiated its international expansion. After all these years the company increased a lot, not only in the creative domain, also the business domain. It became an up to the mark and stock market listed company.

http://www.tijd.be/nieuws/ondernemingen_media_telecom/Studio_100_trekt_naar_VS.8891429-435.art

Nyrstar takes over CBH Resources, or not?

In this week’s blog I will write something about the Belgian company Nyrstar. Nyrstar is a leading global multi-metals business, producing significant quantities of zinc and lead as well as other products.

At the time, Nyrstar is trying to take over the Australian company CBH Resources. Their first offer was not accepted and now they made a revised proposal with adding 50 million to the initial bid. However, CBH Resources’ biggest shareholder , Toho Zinc, is also lurking to take over the company.

Last week Roland Junck, the top executive, declared that is was not a necessity to take over CBH Resources. This happened due to the rejection of CBH Resources on their initial offer of 140 million euro.

The bid on the shares will increase by 44 percent. In reality this is an augmentation of 0.060 euro per share. Nyrstar also offered 750 Australian dollar per short-term convertible bond. This brings the total of the offer to 290 million Australian dollar or 190 million euro.

This will be one of the biggest investments Nyrstar ever made. They have done similar, smaller investments concerning mines in Peru, Greenland and the United States.

In my opinion CBH Resources is obviously more important than Nyrstar wants to admit. Even for a company of their proportion, 50 million is still loads of money!
I do find it normal that Nyrstar wants to get their hands on this mine site, but why do they deny it? Nyrstar is active in a sector where they need these resources for the development of a changing world.
CBH Resources produces zinc, lead and solver from the Endeavour Mine and that is exactly what Nyrstar needs. If they want to expand their company and serve more costumers they need the resources.

http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelid=DMF20100312_024&subsection=215

Good results of Fortis washed away after fine

The year results of Fortis were eventually very good and promising if we look back on the problems the company has had the last few years. Last year, in 2009, the Fortis Holding had a net profit of 1.2 billion Euros. The company is clearly on the right track again and has even decided to pay a dividend of 8 cents to its shareholders.

Although I've mentioned that the Fortis Holding, soon to become ageas, is back on the right track, there are some key notes. First of all, the net profit was elevated because 25 percent of AG - which is the core business of the company - was sold to third parties. Last mentioned added 456 million Euros to the net profit. Secondly, the Belgian subsidiary AG Insurance and the life insurance division experienced a very striking expansion. Finally, the profit of the damage insurance division was put back by approximately 50 percent.

As mentioned earlier, the Fortis Holding wants to take a new start. That's also the reason why the company's name will be changed into ageas. You're probably thinking: Okay big deal, what's the problem? Well, the problem is that Fortis Holding can't just simply let go of the past. In the next paragraph I'll tell you why.

Fortis has been fined by AFM, this is the Dutch consumer organisation for the financial markets. The abreviation stands for Authority Financial Markets and AFM has fined Fortis for spreading deceiving information to its shareholders. More specificly, former CEO Jean-Paul Votron held a press conference on the 5th of June 2008 in which he claimed that Fortis was financially very healthy. It has also withheld valuable information from its shareholders.

The fine amounted to 576,000 Euros, this is one of the reasons why the Fortis Holding doesn't agree with this penalty. In the article it's also mentioned that this measure is a real breakthrough for everyone who has lost a lot of money after investing in Fortis Holding.

I must say I really support this vision of AFM. In my opinion, and the opinion of several thousands, this measure had to be taken in order to punish Fortis Holding for the damage it has caused in the past. While the figures were very bad, Jean-Paul Votron has definitely told a lot of things that deceived a large number of stake- and shareholders. In his position, I really think this wasn't appropriate in any way whatsoever.

Have you taken a closer look at the high net profit of the Fortis Holding? If the government hadn't taken any further measures to safeguard banks like Fortis, they would have had nothing at all at this moment. So I think as a government, you also need to be there for the regular citizins, the Joe Sixpack, as Americans call it. This is what most people actually think... (!)

But! Ofcourse there's a difference between Fortis and Fortis Holding and many people don't see the difference between them. The fact that Fortis Holding is changing its name, also means that they want to deal with the problems concerning associations between the two of them. I must say I am a bit surprised by the  amount of profit the Fortis Holding has stated. The fact that they are giving a dividend of 8 cents per share is also a sign that things are going better and better as time goes by.

Picanol topmanager gets a paycheck of 0 Euro

The last decennium the textile industry in the western countries has been hard hit. Due to high wage costs most of the textile companies decided to outsource their business activities to low-income countries. Also Picanol, a Belgian producer of weaving-machines is in the same boat.

Since July last year, the company’s management has been taken over by Luc Tack. It’s striking that because the company didn’t succeed in making profit, this manager doesn’t grant itself by any means. Even bonuses and stock options aren’t part of his remuneration. Before giving himself an income, the owner of Picanol wants to get the company back on track and is set to return to the black. This is the very first time that a manager of a Belgian stock-listed company does not receive any income whatsoever. Up to now this had happened particularly by Anglo-Saxon companies.

The economical crisis is the main cause for the financial problems of the weaving-machines builder. Because of the unfavorable economical situation, the demand for its products has dropped enormously. Last year the situation was harrowing because it looked like the company would go bankrupt. Luckily this could be avoided because of an injection of capital of 15 million Euros. In exchange for this amount of money, Luc Tack now possesses 87% of the company. His decision not to receive any income is in large contrast with the earlier period policy of Picanol. It’s also because of the immense amounts of money that were paid to former manager Luc Coene as well as to the Steverlynck family, the company is in difficulties nowadays.

Finally the trade-union is positive about this decision which was exclusively made by the manager. They consider this deed as a sign of confidence towards the future. Now he just has to prove he is worth the given confidence.

In my opinion Luc Tack has made a really courageous decision by refusing any payment for his efforts. We must not forget that he has taken a 15 million Euro risk on saving this company. I think this way he will awake sympathy by all the different stakeholders of the company, this because of several factors. First of all the shareholders won’t mind if they don’t receive a return for their investment. I’m quite sure they will think the following way: ‘Even the manager doesn’t get an income, so why should we get one?’ Secondly he will also encourage employees to give their best and take it to the next level. Maybe it’s his intention to make them feel responsible for his income. Finally, also possible creditors will be understanding and will think twice before complaining about their situation.

Sources: Picanol topman Luck Tack weigert loon (Article 'De Tijd')