Heijmans makes provision for €30 million to settle the building industry investigation and stands by

Heijmans (property development, construction and infrastructure) has announced that it will make a provision for €30 million against its 2004 results to settle the financial consequences of all the current and expected competition law and other procedures. This provision is over and above the €15 million extraordinary expenditure that was at the expense of the 2003 results.

Heijmans has taken note of the arguments on which the NMA has based its case for establishing the fines imposed for contravening the competition rules in the groundworks and civil engineering sector. Making use of these arguments, and others, and taking into account the NMa´s proposals for an arrangement for civil claims, Heijmans has made an assessment of the financial consequences of the current competition law procedures and other procedures connected with the investigation into the building industry. These include, in particular, fines that may be expected to be imposed on all the sectors investigated by the NMa and on the bitumen sector investigated by the European Commission.

Based on current understanding, a provision of €30 million will be made for this against the 2004 results. This is over and above the extraordinary expenditure of €15 million already charged to the 2003 results. Heijmans is standing by its intention to propose a cash dividend for 2004 of €1.22 per share at the General Meeting of Shareholders in April.

Since 2001, Heijmans has been pursuing a stringent integrity policy and is confident that this provision will signify effective closure in the financial sense. In collaboration with its clients and all the other parties involved in the building industry, Heijmans will devote itself to making the building industry a transparent and innovative industry.

Source: Heijmans

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