Hamon, a hundred years engineering for nature (PDF 2Mo)

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1998 2002 Purchase of a series of companies in the USA: Research-Cottrell, Custodis and Thermal Transfer Corporation “Between the moment when Francis’ grandfather sold the Hamon license to Research-Cottrell and when Francis bought the 3 companies, much water had flowed under the bridge. Among other things, we’ve added air pollution control and heat recovery to our portfolio, as well as the building of industrial chimneys.” Philippe Delvaux Slow down of our business “We went through a difficult period, and this essentially due to 3 factors: our very rapid growth, the virtual stop of new power plant builds in the USA following the Enron affair, and the liberalization of the energy market in Europe. All this at a time when we needed the orders to pay for our new acquisitions.” Francis Lambilliotte “Just like Hamon, Research-Cottrell also has a century of tradition behind it. It was one of the leading innovators in its industry. And as with Hamon, it had its fair share of highs and lows, but that didn’t stop it from being a major success story. That’s rare for a company, and I think much credit should go to those people who were part of it during those times.” Ollie Acheson, CFO Hamon Corporation USA “Custodis, founded in 1898, has been part of Research-Cottrell since 1968. The complementarity of both companies’ respective activities, as well as their excellent reputation as innovators in both chimneys and silos, made the purchase a logical one. To give just one example of our pioneering spirit, when the cooling towers arrived in the USA, it was us who built the hyperbolic shells!” John Boone, President, Hamon Custodis Inc. “These different acquisitions led to the creation of the 4 current main activities of business. The cooling towers still represent a 1/3rd of our activity, alongside the heat exchangers, and air pollution control as well as chimneys. Together, under the name Hamon, there is quite some knowledge and experience, as each of the 3 companies - d’Hondt, Research-Cottrell and Custodis - have more than 100 years of history.” Jean Gilbert 12
On the way to being both a larger and stronger group 2003 2007 A recovery with the help of an audacious plan “With the support of our new finance director, Bernard Van Diest, I decided that we had to do the right thing, and do it properly. We opted for a series of measures: concentrate on our core businesses; reduce overheads by 25%; and sell those businesses that were less profitable. We also decided to sell the dry cooling business (co-directed at the time by Aart Nobel), and for this we received a good price. Finally we also chose for a new business model for the American market. Our strategy consisted of out-sourcing to countries where production costs were lower. Thanks to these steps, we were able to operate on a sounder basis, starting first in the USA with Aart as the managing director.” Francis Lambilliotte “In the United States, the tighter legislation as it relates to the protection of the environment gave us the perfect opportunity to increase our order book. Both internally and externally with partners, we intensified our efforts in research and development so as to provide better solutions for our clients. This helped enormously in raising our profile, and our commercial success. This approach also forced us to develop a portfolio of products that were needed and wanted by the market.” Aart Nobel, CEO, Hamon Corporation USA “In 2005, it was the Division Research-Cottrell that maintained the financial health of the group. This seemed fair, and part of the swings and roundabouts that is business. When Francis bought us, it was us that were going through difficult times. I believe in fact, that had we not been bought at that time we might not exist at all now!” Philippe Delvaux Business is booming “At Research-Cottrell, we are comfortable with the way we are currently ahead of our previsions. We’re also intensifying contacts with our key targets: the electric power plants, the petrochemical and steel sectors, the cement companies and the glass industry, as well as the market for waste incineration. In fact, we’ve just signed an agreement in Bulgaria. And while we’re talking about good things, I’ve just received the results of a new satisfaction survey. We are to sum it up briefly, perceived as a company with high added value, working with experts of the highest caliber, and we are very customer focused.” Philippe Delvaux “Our success is also due to the fact that we have been concentrating on 2 high potential sectors: the electricity producers that represent 50% of our business, and the oil producers, who make up another 30%. The demand in both sectors is growing. In the developed countries, the old power plants are being replaced with newer and cleaner installations, while in the emerging markets, we are building new plants.” Francis Lambilliotte “From that year on, the situation improved considerably. Helped by the Walloon region, we increased the capital of the business. This brought fresh funds to the company, and an injection of cash that allowed us to keep the business growing. We continued with this financial approach, and in November 2006, we made a second call for capital. This brought an extra 20 million Euro. During that same year, our share price increased by 352%, which put us at the top of the Euronext ranking, and Hamon had a profit of some 13 million Euro. We had succeeded our return to form.” Francis Lambilliotte 13
Page 1 and 2: h a m o n, a hundred years engineer
Page 3 and 4: The Board of Directors of the Hamon
Page 5 and 6: 1927 1935 Participation at the Worl
Page 7 and 8: 1964 1968 First order from the US b
Page 9 and 10: Francis Lambilliotte receives from
Page 11: The importance of the respect of cu
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Hamon, a hundred years engineering for nature (PDF 2Mo)

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