Besix back on track after numerous difficulties

The building-trade Besix is not a stranger in the success story about the expansion of Dubai. The Belgian building-trade has established a lot of impressive projects in the Middle East. They built for instance the highest skyscraper in the world, namely the Burj Khalifa which has a height of 828 metres.

But more than ever it looks like the project will become unprofitable. One of the causes is that Besix had to make the skyscraper 100 metres higher than eventually agreed upon by the client. Another reason is the bankruptcy of the Emirate Dubai, which makes part of the 7 United Arab Emirates, has resulted in a downfall of many future projects. The Belgian building-trade that counts 17700 employees has lived a certain time in uncertainty.

Hence to the drop out of several planned projects in Dubai last year, a large number of original orders were ultimately cancelled. The value of the orders felt back from 3.6 billion Euros in the beginning of 2009 to 2.4 billion Euros at the end of that same year. Logically this became visible in the turnover figures. The company knew a forceful fall in turnover from almost 2.1 to 1.92 billion Euros.

Cheerfully, since the beginning of 2010 the restlessness has faded away because of a number of new projects which came in. These projects will especially be worked out in Abu Dhabi, which is part of the United Arab Emirates as well. The other day it got into public that Besix is set on building a giant hospital there. With its value of 940 million Euros this is the biggest contract ever for the Belgian building-trade. Consequently to the incoming orders the mood has changed completely. Also the value of the order book has risen again to 3.4 billion Euros. This means that the budgeted turnover will be surpassed by enormous numbers.

Moreover, the Besix top executive Johan Beerlandt has announced earlier that it would not be such a tragedy if the company wouldn’t be able to clime out of the costs. He sees the situation as an opportunity which has opened doors to other and perhaps even bigger contracts. Recently the company signed a modest quantity of new skyscraper-contracts. For example in the office quarter La Défense in Paris they are set on building a new complex of about 162 metres high. In addition, they are also going to build the new headquarters of the Abu Dhabi oil company. But we’re not just there yet; the company will also build a VIP terminal in the Abu Dhabi Airport and also has the creation of four artificial islands on its schedule.

If I take a look at the matter from every angle, in my opinion this has been a exceptionally brave gesture of the top executive of Besix. He looks at the different unprofitable projects from a very contrasting type of view. With reference to entrepreneurship, one of the main values is long-term vision if we take a closer look at the theoretical starting point. On the other hand, when we take a look at the no-nonsense way of business, every company has to deal with the short-term upshot too. Only when this is also being taken into account, the company will be able to bridge over short-range costs and threats and therefore avoid liquidity problems. Seen the fact that the company exists for over 100 years, it has already had the possibility to pile up some reserves.

Finally, I share the opinion that this so-called accident carries a lot of opportunities. I am also well-aware of the fact that with this acquired image because of numerous projects in Dubai, they have built up an impressive reputation and corporate image. Therefore, I’m truly convinced that Besix will obtain even more million Euro contracts for other projects in that same region. Hopefully the company will be able to bridge over a difficult year and in the same time be launched to grow as a construction firm.

Source: 'Na mega-toren nu mega kliniek voor Besix'

Recruitment of interims after heavy discharge at Samsonite

In the beginning of the year, 170 employees of different departments lost their jobs at Samsonite. Most of these employees were active in the storeroom of Samsonite. Because of the dark months of the crisis this restructuring was necessary.

These dark months are over now. The production is going well and that’s why Samsonite has decided to recruit employees temporarily. The thing the syndicates are protesting is that there will also be a temporary recruitment of servants. That would be in contrast with the agreements made.

I know it’s maybe difficult for people to hear that there is a recruitment of temporary workers after a restructuring of 170 peoples. But that means that the economy is doing well and better than in the beginning of the year. So let’s be proud of it!Besides, peak moments are typical for this branch and temporary workers are a perfect solution to catch these peak moments. Moreover, one of the most important things in the economy is to keep the technical unemployment as low as possible.

Of course we can wonder why Samsonite did not recruit the people who were fired in the beginning of the year. By recruiting these people, Samsonite could save a lot of training costs. But would you be enthousiast when Samsonite would ask you to retrieve the work? I understand most of the people who lost their job in Samsonite are so disappointed that they are not willing to help the direction with its deficit of workforces.


'Samsonite Oudenaarde werft uitzendarbeiders aan.' (Het Nieuwsblad)

The closure of Godiva's division in Koekelberg

This week, my blog will give you some information about the temporarily close of the Belgian chocolate producer. The company is known for its high quality chocolates. These are distributed all over the world and are a great success.

Regardless their astonishing success, the company is coping with some difficulties in their production line. The management of Godiva has decided to close their division in Koekelberg. After numerous problems with their employees the management was fed up with these circumstances. According to the management, the employees were constantly ignoring their contractual obligations and did not respect the agreements made in the employment contract. Adjacent to that, the conditions are everything but safe when fire breaks loose.

The reason why the employees are not working as motivated as they used to is due to one of the management’s last decisions. They are working on an idea to contract out the packaging activity and the employees couldn’t accept that. It would mean that 90 employees would be fired while other people get their jobs in another circumstances that would be cheaper for the company.

I think the employees are justified to be disappointed in their employers but they are taking it too far. That is why I also agree with the company that they are temporarily closing the division in Koekelberg. It was not safe to work in the environment that the angry employees were creating. They were blocking entrances and exits which lead to unsafe conditions in case of fire.

On the other side, I find it quite selfish to contract out work that their company was doing just to reduce the costs. In these conditions of economic recession, Godiva will bring more unemployment just because Godiva wants to inhibit their costs.

http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelid=DMF20100407_021&subsection=215

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Top manager Delhaize receives a 3-million bonus

Because the company did better than expected over the last 3 years, Delhaize’s CEO Pierre-Olivier Beckers, received around 2.96 million Euros. Because of a so-called flashback bonus his wage grew by one fifth. Initially, he got an annual bonus of 600,000 Euros. Next to that, he also received an additional long-term bonus of about 1 million Euros. As I already mentioned, Delhaize Group outperformed their expectancies over the past three years. This is why the company’s CEO obtained a flashback bonus for successfully piloting Delhaize through a difficult period. Let’s not forget that he already has a basic annual wage of 900,000 Euros and next to that and the bonuses he also saw his pensioner’s fund growing by 400,000 Euros and gained for 6,000 Euros on short-term benefits over that same period.

Based on his overall performance in 2009, the company’s CEO will also be awarded 700,000 Euros. This, as already mentioned, will bring his full amount wage to a level that is unseen and is therefore the highest paycheck in comparison to other remunerations in Belgium. This is actually peanuts when we take a look at the total stock exchange value of the company, namely around six billion Euros.

Moreover, Beckers also obtained a total of 35,000 share options with an initial value of 50.03 EUR. In the present day the value is approximately 60. In other words, his share package already illustrated the company’s positive performances. Ofcourse, Beckers’ shares haven’t been fully cashed so far, that’s why the package is still variable in value and the exact value can’t be estimated at this time. On the other hand, the top manager turned 17,959 options in hard cash.

The 3-million-man is person in charge for Delhaize Belgium as well as Delhaize America. Under his governance Delhaize has put more attention on internal association and succeeded in his purpose. The last few years Beckers increased the profit and reduced the debt level.

In my opinion Beckers’ earnings are on the border of approval. We must recognize the fact that the CEO has somehow managed to ameliorate the financial situation in a somewhat sustainable way. As a consumer I see that many Delhaize supermarkets have undergone a transformation from nice stores to product experience and high quality advice-giving shops with thought through departments. I don’t know whether he can be fully linked to this success. Moreover, he’s not the only management component; he’s as much as the short-term executor and is in as far as the daily gesture.

If you take a closer look at all the numbers mentioned above and convert them in hard cash, we see a total pay envelope of over 5 million Euros. I find it hard to decide whether this wage is acceptable, it’s also not for me to decide. On the other hand, I think because of this decision Delhaize the media focuses very much on one person. I can hardly believe that one single person is so important for the success of a company that size. When we make use of the idealistic principle “you should earn what you deserve”, I think there are definitely some disruptive issues between the two.