2009 - Jaarverslag

REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARDPOST BALANCE SHEET EVENTSOn 9 February 2010 TenCate acquired 51% of the shares of the Britisharmour company AML UK Ltd, based in Swindon (UK). This interest willbe increased to 100% at the end of 2010.This acquisition gives TenCate complete access to the British marketfor lightweight composite armour solutions. These are used in vehicles,aircraft and ships. AML UK has annual revenues of approximately£ 10 million.AML UK will be included in the European segment of the TenCateAdvanced Armour group.PERFORMANCE AND OUTLOOKThere has been an increase in the order intake for protective fabrics.A number of orders were also recently received for vehicle armourand personal protection in the US market amounting to US$ 25 million,with an option to increase the order to US$ 35 million.The geosynthetics market in North America is still showing no signof recovery. The fast-growing Asian market presents opportunitiesfor infrastructure and environmental projects.The adjustment to the sales policy in the synthetic turf activities inthe fourth quarter resulted in a sharp decrease in off-season advancesales but will improve the starting position for sales and results inthe current financial year. The policy in the TenCate Grass group willfocus on margin improvement.The outlook for aerospace activities has improved slightly. The militaryaviation market is developing favourably.With regard to the order book, the year appears to have got off toa promising start for the TenCate Advanced Armour market group.The recent acquisition of the armour company AML UK representsa strengthening of these activities. The transaction has now beencompleted.As announced earlier, a large defence contract (at least € 40 million)was won in January 2010. It relates to the armour concept forhelicopters produced by Eurocopter, a subsidiary of EADS.This contract is of strategic value because TenCate is directly involvedin the design phase and in the integration of the safety conceptin the aircraft. This increases the likelihood of follow-up orders.TenCate’s financial position has strengthened considerably comparedto the start of the previous year. The company is therefore better ableto make optimum use of its production capacity and to respond toseasonal and project-based fluctuations in demand.Despite the lower net profit in 2009, good strategic progress wasmade in various fields. The basis has been strengthened, having regardto the strongly improved financial position and the lower cost level.As a result – barring unforeseen circumstances – a higher result isexpected in 2010, despite the fact that most core markets are stillshowing no clear signs of economic recovery.30Royal Ten Cate