Ladies and gentlemen, a very warm welcome to the presentation of Royal Heijmans' Half Year Results, which we shared with the market via a press release this morning, in which we reflect positively on our performance over the first half of 2026. As usual, we will start this meeting with a short film with some of the highlights of the past six months.
Now first, as you are used to from us, safety. In the field of safety, in addition to the continuous improvement of safety in our business operations, we are increasingly dealing with the impact of external factors, such as the behavior of motorists towards our road workers. Moreover, the recent climate conditions, with the day-after-day temperatures above 35 degrees, also create new challenges.
At the end of June, the outside temperatures were so extreme for our colleagues for several days that we had to put the heat protocol into effect for a prolonged period, a situation that we expect to occur more often in the coming years. It cannot be ruled out that as a result of climate change, the existing cold weather constructive leave of absence will eventually be replaced by one for extreme heat. Despite the growth in turnover in recent years, we see a stable number of accidents for the first time, the total recordable incident rate shows a decrease, a positive development. One swallow does not make a summer. We see the willingness to report safe and unsafe situations is increasing, people are increasingly taking responsibility for their and other people's behavior.
This enables us to increase safety awareness at Heijmans, even in the construction sector, through dialogue with each other. The use of cameras on construction helmets, combined with AI and analysis of the recorded footage, provides valuable new insights and helps colleagues become more aware of safe and unsafe situations they might otherwise have missed. It is after years of effort that we see a slight improvement, which is encouraging and gives extra motivation that addressing behavior in terms of safe and healthy working pays off. Now on to the key financial figures. In the first half of the year, we again took steps on our strategic agenda to get it towards 2030, based on the five strategic pillars: well-being, sustainability, connection, profitability, team, which underpins our mission of being the creators of the healthy living environment.
At our Capital Markets Day in May, we also presented our increased financial targets for 2030, with revenues approaching EUR 4 billion and an underlying EBIT margin between 8% and 10%. Looking back at the first six months of this year, we are positive about our performance, with a turnover of EUR 1.5 billion, about EUR 200 million higher than in the first six months of last year, partly as a result of the acquisition of Hegeman. Underlying EBIT came in at EUR 104 million, which is a margin of 6.9%, which is a further increase by a half percent compared to the same period last year. The cash position ended at EUR 51 million net cash, similar to year-end 2025. In addition, at the beginning of July, we communicated that we, together with our bank consortium, had renewed our revolving credit facility for at least the next five years.
The conditions and covenants have been modified and are more in line with the company's creditworthiness and financial situation. Gavin will elaborate this further on later. Our order book is now at EUR 4.1 billion, an increase of about 30% compared to the first six months last year. Furthermore, the quality of the order book continues to develop positively in all sectors, Living, Working, and Connecting. In terms of home sales, as expected and mentioned during the annual results presentation last February, we came in lower than the same period last year, 1,506 sales compared to 1,634 homes last year, which is being about 130 homes less, a decrease of about 8%. This has mainly been caused by the fact that the sale of inner-city apartments to private individuals has slowed down due to the long construction times required for these projects.
There are also no signs yet that foreign institutional investors are re-entering the market. We do see an increase in sales of apartments to housing corporations, which partly compensates. Despite the government's governance ambitions, we do not expect house sales to pick up this year or next. There are too many disruptive elements that stand in the way of an acceleration of the housing market in the short-term. In spite of obstacles, such as the lack of foreign institutional investors, limited municipal capacity, and granting permits as a result of endless objection procedures, we still sold 1,500 homes in the first half of the year, which is quite a decent achievement. Especially in light of the ever-increasing quality ambitions demanded by municipalities and the two-third affordability standard, which are putting increasing pressure on the feasibility of planning, slowing down rather than accelerating the production of homes. To nitrogen.
A few weeks ago, the government presented its nitrogen plans to the Dutch House of Parliament. The guiding framework seems to be acceptable to society and a step closer to a possible solution. Although its measures will have a profound impact, it will also require a lot from us, from all sectors involved. It would be encouraging if we could continue to work from this guiding framework, so that the Netherlands can finally become unlocked with regard to nitrogen, leading to better future prospects. We therefore call on all political parties to focus on what the present plans would make possible rather than focusing on the challenges. To the infrastructure.
In recent months, a reprioritization of the implementation agenda of and by Rijkswaterstaat has taken place since the government's financial budget does not yet allow for the much-needed extra investments to be made for the renovation and replacement of our road and water infrastructure. In my view, this is simply incomprehensible, because the vital infrastructure, in the broadest sense, is not only the basis for our future prosperity but also is like oxygen for our economy. In addition, postponing these much-needed additional investments in the major maintenance will prove to be much more expensive in the long run. A second issue will be a lack of labor supply to tackle these projects simultaneously. The maintenance task requires a structurally sufficient budget, smart prioritization, and close cooperation between government and the market.
It's only by precise and proper coordinated planning capacity, financing, and innovation that the Netherlands can keep the maintenance task manageable. It can only be done if we work together. The significant volume of work in water safety and energy, including the reinforcement of dikes and the construction of substations, is contributing to a strong order book for Connecting. This is further supported by the ongoing replacement and refurbishment of existing infrastructure. I would now like to give the floor to Gavin van Boekel, who will go into more detail on the financial performance per sector and elaborate on the revolving credit facility we have recently signed. Over to you, Gavin.
Thank you, Ton. We look back on the first half of this year with confidence and optimism, and equally look forward to the second half of the year. In the first six months of 2026, we generated a revenue of more than EUR 1.5 billion, representing growth of nearly 16% compared with the first half of 2025. The acquisition of Hegeman at the end of last year contributed EUR 89 million in H1, while technical services and non-residential projects within Working and the energy segment within Connecting also delivered strong growth. As you by now expect from us, we remain committed to profitable growth. We are therefore elated to report an underlying EBIT margin of 6.9%, once again demonstrating our ability to combine growth with profitability. The underlying EBIT margin increased 60 basis points, all business segments contributed to this performance.
As a reminder, the strategic financial performance range for 2030 that we presented at our Capital Markets Day, 21st of May last, is an underlying EBIT margin of 8%-10%. At this Capital Markets Day, we also announced that Heijmans going forward will report underlying EBIT margin rather than underlying EBITDA margin as its key financial performance indicator. For reference, the underlying EBIT margin of 6.9% reported over the first half of this year corresponds to an underlying EBITDA margin of 9%. Underlying EBIT rose with EUR 22 million to an underlying EBIT of EUR 104 million. It is worth noting that the underlying EBIT over the first half includes more than EUR 4 million of expensed cost related to the transition to our new SAP platform, SAP S/4HANA. The technical migration to the new ERP environment was successfully completed last May.
During the second half of 2026, the first of a series of improvement releases in SAP S/4 will be implemented, introducing enhanced business processes. Net profit rose by almost 24% compared with the first half of 2025 and amounted to EUR 73 million. Our margin over volume strategy continues to deliver strong, sustainable results. Compared with mid 2025, our order book increased significantly to EUR 4.1 billion, with the strongest growth recorded in the Working segment. We continue to see improving quality in our order book, which is encouraging. Of the total order book of EUR 4.1 billion, EUR 1.4 billion relates to 2026 financial year, whilst the remaining EUR 2.7 billion will be executed in the years after 2026. Our margin over volume strategy is also reflected in a significant improvement of our cash position.
Whereas we reported net debt of EUR 40 million after the first half of 2025, we now report a net cash position of EUR 51 million. Including EUR 65 million dividend payment related to 2025, paid out in May, the cash generation over H1 itself was flat. With a solvency ratio of 31.5%, Heijmans continues to maintain a strong balance sheet and remains financially healthy and robust. Due primarily to the acquisition of Hegeman, solvency is 70 basis points lower than at the end of the first half of 2025. ROCE increased significantly to over 30%, compared with 24.7% a year earlier, demonstrating a substantial improvement in return on average capital employed. At the beginning of July, Heijmans reached an agreement with its banking consortium, consisting of ABN AMRO, ING, and Rabobank, on a new EUR 210 million revolving credit facility.
The facility replaces the existing one of EUR 177.5 million and has an initial term of five years, with two one-year extension options. The RCF includes an additional EUR 150 million accordion acquisition facility, further increasing the financial flexibility of our company. We have also modernized and expanded the associated covenants and conditions, bringing them more in line with Heijmans' current credit profile and financial position. The different business segments. Let's start with Living. On the three photographs of Living, you will see from left to right, the Ginkgo student housing complex in Utrecht. Together with SSH Student Housing, we are developing Ginkgo, a student housing complex comprising of 483 student units. The project combines the delivery of much-needed student accommodation with a strong focus on wellbeing, social interaction, and sustainable construction. In the middle, INCK in Eindhoven. Construction by now has commenced.
This new urban residential district will comprise of 400 homes. The project demonstrates how innovative energy solutions can enable housing development even under challenging conditions, such as energy grid congestion. To the right, Heem van Selis in Boxtel. This project received an NL GreenLabel Area Certification B. It is a valuable recognition of the sustainable and nature-inclusive design of the neighborhood, whilst also providing useful insights for future area developments. As already indicated during the presentation of our 2025 annual results, residential development in the Netherlands continues to face structural challenges resulting from an accumulation of regulatory and operational hurdles. Ton also referred to this earlier. As expected, home sales declined slightly to a total of 1,506 units. Market demand for ground-based residential properties remains strong, and sales in this category continues to progress well.
Living revenue increased from EUR 493 million to EUR 509 million in the first half of the year. Underlying EBIT rose to EUR 45 million, resulting in an underlying EBIT margin of 8.7%. In 2026, we further expanded our land bank by approximately 2,000 positions to a total of around 42,000. Compared with the first half of 2025, the order book increased by nearly 24% to EUR 1.1 billion. Three illustrations of Working. On the left, the prison in Heerhugowaard. Heijmans secured an EUR 83 million contract for the renovation and sustainability upgrade of the correctional institution in Heerhugowaard. The project underlines our position in complex non-residential and renovation assignments. In the middle, the Happiness Building. We introduced a scientifically substantiated measurement methodology that provides insight into how well a building meets the needs of the well-being of its users. On the right, Royal FloraHolland.
The multi-year maintenance contract for Royal FloraHolland is progressing according to plan and demonstrates how we combine long-term client relationship with technical management, sustainability, and continuity of service delivery. At Working, we saw a revenue increase by more than 40% in the first half of 2026. Both our recurring business and projects contributed to this growth. The acquisition of Hegeman, as earlier mentioned, added EUR 89 million of revenue in the first half of the year. In line with our expectations, project revenue grew strongly, driven by work for defense in locations such as Leusden. Total revenue for Working amounted to EUR 470 million. The underlying EBIT margin remains stable compared with H1 2025 at 6.9%. This means that the dilutive impact of Hegeman on the underlying EBIT margin has been fully absorbed.
The order book increased by almost 80% compared with the first half of last year to EUR 2 billion, providing a strong outlook for 2027 and 2028. Here, too, we are seeing an improvement in the quality of the order book. Finally, three examples from Connecting. On the left, the off-site guard rail replacement. Heijmans automated the replacement of guard rails, enabling more work to be carried out with fewer people whilst improving safety, working conditions, and significantly reducing CO2 emissions. In the middle, major bridge maintenance.
Rijkswaterstaat awarded Heijmans a framework agreement for major maintenance on four bridges. This is a strong confirmation of our position in the replacement and renovation challenge facing Dutch infrastructure. It is also encouraging to see that Rijkswaterstaat brings series of similar objects as one package to the market, enabling a learning curve across comparable assets. On the right, the TenneT high-voltage substation in Boxmeer.
Together with TenneT, we are working on the design of a new high-voltage substation in Boxmeer, contributing to the expansion and future resilience of the Dutch energy grid. Revenue at Connecting increased to EUR 586 million. Activities in the energy sector particularly grew strongly. Underlying profitability at Connecting improved significantly. Underlying EBIT increased from EUR 21 million in the first half of 2025 to EUR 37 million in H1 2026. The corresponding underlying EBIT margin at the end of H1 this year was 6.2%, an increase of 200 basis points. In addition to volume growth, this was primarily driven by an improved mix, reflecting the growing share of revenue from the energy segment. The order book at Connecting increased slightly to a total of EUR 1.1 billion. I would now like to hand over back to Ton for the outlook.
Thank you, Gavin. As mentioned earlier, we look back on a positive first half of 2026 and are therefore confident. We are on track to achieve our outlook for the whole of 2026, which is a turnover of around EUR 3.1 billion and an underlying EBIT margin towards 7.3%, which corresponds to an underlying EBITA margin towards 9.5%. We are still seeing plenty of opportunities in the fields in which we are active within Living, Working, and Connecting. We must remain selective in which tenders we participate, and as we are being asked for more frequently and at the earliest stage, to offer our knowledge and expertise one-on-one to our clients in order to realize projects together, especially in Working.
For Heijmans, it remains important to keep our business fundamentals in order based on our key principles, "We do what we can, the balance between risk acceptance and earning capacity, dare to say no, and margin above volume." By meticulously following these principles in all levels of our company, we are able to deliver this quality performance, which underpins Heijmans as a robust and predictable company. We will continue to focus and deliver on our strategy together towards 2030, which is based on our five pillars, allowing us to transition from a project to a project and process company in the coming years. Thanks for your attention, and now it's time for questions. Thank you.
We'll use the microphone for the questions. Please state your name and the company you're representing.
Thank you. Tijs Hollestelle , ING. My first question, and I was triggered by the example on the guardrails, so a more efficient way. Can you provide us with a bit more background on what is the saving, and then especially in time? I was, again, quite impressed by the revenue growth in the infra and non-residential business. I think this is an example of such a thing.
Yeah. With the guardrails, currently, we have efficiency saving of about 20%. We are looking at further inroads, because currently the installation is still done partly manually, and we're looking how we can actually robotize that, providing further efficiencies. Let's also bear in mind that a large part of why this is important is also to improve working conditions. These are very heavy elements related to the road. With a shrinking population of blue-collar workers, making this a more acceptable piece of work to newcomers is, I think, also important next to the efficiency task.
Okay, that's helpful. Thank you. I had a question about the provisions, I think also for you, Gavin. Both short-term and long-term, it was up. I guess that the key element is the share option plan for the employees. Is that correct?
That's correct. By the end of the year, if you would take EUR 100 share price in consideration, the total provision for SAS would be around EUR 30 million out of the numbers you see.
No other changes in onerous contract provisions or legal provisions?
No. We have a warranty provision that, of course, circulates. New warranties coming in, others coming out, but there is no significant provision in there that is related to loss provisions or claims.
Okay, clear. The, what was it, EUR 4 million M&A amortization in the Working division.
Yep.
Related to the Hegeman acquisition. Is that, let's say, the EUR 4 million also a good proxy for the second half?
Yeah, I think it will be around EUR 7 million, let's say EUR 8 million for the whole year. I expect that to continue for the next two years.
That was my follow-up. Okay, the same number. Yeah. You mentioned it in the presentations, almost EUR 90 million revenue contribution from Hegeman and an EBIT margin of 5.6. I think at the time of the acquisition, the annual turnover was EUR 140 and an EBITDA margin of 5.5. What is your expectation for this business now?
We expect revenue to increase. That's a thing which, of course, we see from H1.
To increase. Yeah. Okay.
That I think is a safe bet compared to the number you quote. More importantly, we are working on getting Hegeman into the margin range of Heijmans. On H1, as I mentioned, we managed to get at least the improvement on the Heijmans side to compensate for the dilution of Hegeman. That's of course, one thing.
Yeah.
Next thing is, how do we get Hegeman up to the standards of Heijmans? That, in all fairness, will take another year and a half.
Yeah, that takes time. What was the, let's say, the comparable first half revenue of Hegeman in 2025?
I find it hard to say because they are on Dutch GAAP measures, so I don't know by heart.
That's great.
I would argue it might be, I don't know, 20, 30 basis points higher this year than last. It's not a seismic change.
All right. The order book contribution, because the order book in that division was really up, but there's part also of the consolidation impact.
Correct.
How much was that?
I think by heart, about EUR 200.
EUR 200 million. Yeah, I have more questions, but let's pass it.
Tijs is being generous. Let's call it that. Martijn den Drijver, ABN AMRO. My first question is with regard to the resi bit of the business of Living. You mentioned a couple of elements that could be quantified or qualified as headwind, but your order book is up. How should we think about Living in the second half of the year, given these multiple headwind elements that you've mentioned and that increasing order book? H2 and also perhaps your thoughts on 2027.
Well, I said in February that it was like the same or a little bit less, and it was becoming a little bit less. 130 homes less sold last year of this first half year. I think that the decline of 8%, I think it will also be at the end of the year. The measurements from the government will not instead at this moment. It takes time to get up. We think that on the level of 3,000 homes a year, that could a little bit less or a little bit up, but that's kind of the level we think at the end of the year.
Understood. Just one follow-up. The whole change in the portfolio because of the Van Wanrooij acquisition was that you moved more from inner city to suburban. That was supposed to support this particular development. How has that worked out now? Has this helped? Without Van Wanrooij, it would have been lower? Is that the way to look at it?
Yeah, I think so, that when we hadn't Van Wanrooij or Van Gisbergen also.
Yep.
That it also should be a little bit lower. What you see is that also that earnings from apartment complexes, they are much bigger. Also when you look at the realization time, it costs two or three years, is on the other risk profile than what we have from the Van Wanrooij when it is grounded homes.
Got it. Okay. My second question is with regards to Working, and it builds a little bit on the question of Tijs. That order book, can you provide a bit of a split between the non-resi bit and the technical services? We know that EUR 200 million is roughly eight months, that's clearly in the non-resi bit.
The largest part is projects, simply because the duration of services is much smaller. You get an order for extra work today, you need to complete it tomorrow, it hardly hits your order book.
Got it. Okay. Just coming back to the question on Heijmans, I seem to recall that the earlier guidance was that you would have it at the Heijmans margin at the end of 2026.
No, the guidance was-
No? Am I mistaken here?
It would not be dilutive before the end of 2026.
Not being dilutive. That means that you have to have it at the average of Heijmans.
The intent was to say compared to the year before.
Yeah. Okay.
if you-
That's where I went wrong
I mean it as average of Heijmans, it will take, I think, a year more than that guidance.
Understood. A bit of an accounting one, I have to ask, why is that holding elimination line cost, why has it gone up to EUR 10 million? Seems like a large amount.
Yeah. What's in there is Heijmans will have EUR two to three million in holding cost on a more structural level.
Yep.
We added EUR four million in there for SAP. As we move from EBIT to EBITDA, there is also EUR four million of depreciation. Let's take our head office in Rosmalen in there.
This is if we take out the EUR 4 million.
The holding cost EBITDA-
Yeah
Is EUR 6 million.
Okay.
Does it answer your question, Martijn?
Yeah, it does. Thank you. More open question. Your net cash, faster than expected. I didn't expect you to be net cash given the growth that you had and the seasonal effect. You have a higher, larger RCF, where in the case of M&A, you're allowed to get your net debt EBITDA covenant from 3.0 to 3.5.
Correct.
You have EUR 150 million acquisition facility. You can probably guess my question.
I can guess your question.
Yeah.
And likely-
You know the answer also. No.
No.
Yeah, okay. First the question.
Is there, in your acquisition funnel, a company of similar size like Van Wanrooij, or should we think of this of multiple smaller acquisitions over a period of time? Just asking, does another one like Van Wanrooij actually exist?
If you look at another one of Van Wanrooij, the way it is run and the levels of professionalization, that is not easily replicated in the industry. If you mean with Van Wanrooij something of that size-
Yep.
Definitely possible.
Yeah.
Also smaller ones. We don't rule out anything, Martijn, but we're looking at both levels.
Yeah. We shouldn't read anything into this, all these developments, as into something's going to happen in the near term. That would be too opportunistic.
That is always a possibility. It's always possible. It will not happen. They can't come along.
Just one final one, and then I'll give other analysts a chance as well. In point 6.3 in your press release, you talk a little bit about seasonality. You specifically mention that the normal seasonality in recent years is not what it was in the past.
Correct.
Does that remark relate to the working capital only, or also to the profitability? The text is a bit ambiguous.
It relates to both.
Relates to both.
We have in the past seen bigger swings between H1 and H2.
Yep.
On turnover and profits. We see a more equal line throughout the year for working capital and P&L. That's what the text means.
H2 will still be better than H1, but not as strongly as in the past.
Not as strongly differentiated versus H1 than in the past. Correct.
All right. Thank you very much.
Pass the mic. Over here.
Thank you. Simon van Oppen, Kepler Cheuvreux. I have a question on cost inflation. You mentioned in the report that you're currently not seeing any cost inflation that is affecting Heijmans. What are, let's say, the conversations that you're having with your clients? Are higher costs a concern for them that might hamper your growth in the next coming years?
Well, we have index appointments with the clients we have. When the costs are coming too high, it's asking, have they enough budget? That's the discussions we have with them. At the moment, I don't see that it will be a decline of that or that some Opdracht, what is that?
Contracts?
Contracts will be ended or something.
That is both from the government side as well as-
Well, you see the high prioritization, it was made by Rijkswaterstaat. That we had also look at our own portfolio, it has not as much impact than what I see now.
We are able to pass through the cost as part of our contracts. Of course, to your point, Simon, there might come a time when, if all those costs start to surmount, also customers have a budget at some point. At this point in time, the discussion we have is more around the spikiness of cost in a quarter. An index is great, but index is the average of a quarter. If you buy either on a peak or a trough, that could be quite a sizable impact. That's the conversation we have now with our customers.
Thanks.
Next one over here.
Hello. Leontien de Waal from ABN AMRO. Considering your strong margin increase in Connecting, how sustainable is that increase? Is it due to a favorable project mix, or are there also incidentals in that margin jump?
Both are true. We explained on the Capital Markets Day that when we have big projects, category 3 projects, we don't take any profit in the first 20% of the project. That was the case for a high-voltage substation in Maasbracht that passed that point in Q2, so that got added to the mix. It also holds for projects that are now being completed and will pass 20% in H2. To answer your question honestly, yes, it happened, but I do still feel it's sustainable going forward because we will have more of those in the future. To your point, indeed, what is driving this is product mix, and I don't see a product mix change anytime soon. Yes, it's sustainable.
Okay. Favorable developments. If you're focusing on energy, in the energy business, and we talked a bit about acquisitions, you regarding everything, like bigger and also smaller opportunities. What about possible acquisitions in the area of digitalization or somewhat more complicated propositions, perhaps not solely focusing on construction companies and development companies, et cetera?
No, you're spot on. We're also looking at how can we fortify competencies. You always need to be careful. If you buy a company for competencies, how do you keep it? How do you actually make it like an oil spill over the company rather than anything else? Is there a competency that we miss? Take, for example, in the past, why did we bought Dynniq? Because we needed high-voltage expertise, and training high-voltage expertise would have taken us eight years. We rather have solved it via the Dynniq route. We definitely don't rule that out. We are mindful that it must be something that we can then, A, at least foster, and B, thrive throughout the whole company, but could definitely be one of the solutions.
Okay. Thank you.
I'll walk over here and pass the microphone here.
You mentioned that you don't expect home sales to increase in the next short-term period, two years. That means that the shortage in the Netherlands most likely will only increase. Does that offer opportunity for you to be able to raise your profitability in this area, making use of or benefiting from the shortage in the market because there is still strong demand?
I think that will stay on a high level what it now is. It is also what is achievable for the customer. That is what happening today. I don't think that the house prices are going down very quickly.
Secondly, maybe detailed question, but Rijkswaterstaat stated that they won't renew asphalt on the highways in the northern part of the Netherlands. Will it have any impact on your asphalt factories?
No, very small. We have one factory in Kloosterburen, and on the other factories are more down, so they are in Utrecht and Amsterdam. I think that it will not have a lot of the asphalt. Ton, how do you call that?
Ton.
Tonnes. Sorry.
No significant volume loss expected. That's round one in questions. I guess there will be a round two.
Yeah. You guessed well.
Tijs Hollestelle again. Yeah. Strong growth in the Connecting in the infra division. You mentioned in the press release that the medium and high voltage also helped the margin, the mix. It is indeed a big jump year-on-year in the first half, but it was already quite good in the second half. I think that where we at now, the increase will be, let's say, of a lower pace.
Yeah. If you mean the delta basis points H2, I don't expect a similar increase in H2 as H1. If that's your question, Tijs.
Yeah. Then a follow-up, just to get a sense of it. I know that it is, let's say, also over the medium and longer term, growing faster than the other markets, but is there a lot of concentration risk on a six-month reporting basis, or is your exposure to TenneT and these kind of energy projects such that it is a constant stream in every reporting period?
Yeah. It's a constant stream. That's what I tried to also explain to Leontien's question. We have these situations where we hit a 20% threshold, but new ones coming in, so it's a bit like roof tiling.
Yeah.
I don't expect serious concentration risk. What, of course, is a concentration risk is that we do primarily work for TenneT, Rijkswaterstaat, the government, but that's inherent to the sector, I would argue.
Yeah. Okay. That risk is known. Okay. That's helpful. Also for me, a bit more background on the dynamics in the residential division. What I always understood is that there's revenue from pure property development, so that is, of course, linked to the volume, but what Ton explained, there's a difference in rural and inner city.
Yeah.
With how fast can you develop. The other element is the actual construction of the houses, which is basically lagging. That's a reflection of your home sales, I don't know, a year, one and a half years ago. Is that up year-over-year as a reflection of, let's say, decent volumes last year?
I don't know your question. Ask him again.
Okay.
Sorry.
Yeah. The difference between pure property development revenue.
Yeah.
The construction of houses revenue in the residential division.
In the business. Is there a difference in it? Well, I think we have now a demand of a little bit more apartments, I will say, in construction. It will be a little bit more, I think, in the construction side than in the development side for revenues. On the other hand, what you see is that there's a little bit more risk. We have more apartments unsold. You can't split that kind of construction. The construction side is during two, three years, and on the rural side, you can always split from a project from 50 to 20 or 25, so there's less risk. At the revenues, it's like Yeah.
Yeah. I would argue same.
Yeah.
Bear in mind, the business model for Whoon is they produce themselves about half of what property development sells.
Yeah.
The Heijmans model is the other way around.
Yeah.
Building construction actually gets half of its revenue from outside, i.e., for example, social corporations. That doesn't have that three-year duration time. That's why I would argue overall comes out in the wash.
Yeah. I see on your faces that you find it is a bit of a strange question. I am looking, let us say, into 2027. Heijmans had a stellar period of a couple of years in a row of growth. In theory, if the housing market remains like it is, a bit subdued, although underlying the trend is okay with the volumes, this goes into 2027, then there is also a lagging effect of the number of constructed houses. In theory, you could see lower year-on-year revenue in 2027 if market conditions remain the same. Is that a scenario you agree, or you say price levels are such that it will be up?
I understand the question now better, Tijs. Bear in mind, we talk about an 8% decrease. Also we have the property prices increasing given the shortage that we commented on earlier.
Yeah.
How that will come out in the mix and the wash, might be a few % up, few % down. I do not expect it to majorly change next year.
Yeah.
That is also the point we made earlier. I think in Living, this is going to be stable for quite a bit of time until we see this unlock from government, in all fairness. The key growth, both from profitability as well as in turnover, will come from Working and Connecting. That is, I think, the picture for the next at least two years.
Around stable. That is neat, answering my question. Then a small follow-up on the balance sheet. Indeed, I notice your strategic land positions were up, the line item on the balance sheet you call order inventory was significantly down, that also includes properties under construction. Is that also included in that?
You see work in progress debit increasing again. How it works is that land holdings go from strategic to order inventory to work in progress.
Yeah.
This is simply how the cycle works. I would look at the three in combination rather than line by line.
Maybe the last two together.
Last two. In principle, in this time, that's true, Tijs. In principle, you should look at all three together.
Yeah.
For this time, you're right. There is a mixed effect between order and work in progress.
Okay.
It's more, I would say, a symbol of the fact that you take a photo picture of the balance sheet at a certain date, and that there is an underlying movement.
If I, let's say, translate that to the cash flow statement, I think you combine those two line items.
Yeah.
There's a EUR + 10 million on top of my head.
Could be.
Yeah, that's reflecting that the older inventory is down a bit more.
Yeah.
You said in the presentation you also acquired quite some new strategic land positions.
Correct.
That is not including that large site in Rotterdam you announced last year. Is it an after play or is it?
That was last year. Bear in mind, the way how we de-risk land acquisition is that often we buy it staged, i.e., we give a certain amount per square meter when we sign the contract. We give a certain amount when we have agreement with municipalities to develop. We have a certain amount when we actually start building. That's how we de-risk the price. That's why you won't see that directly, those 2,000 back one-on-one in the balance sheet or the cash flow. The cash out at inception is relatively low.
Okay, that's very helpful. One final question. You mentioned modernization of the credit revolver.
Yeah.
What were the benefits, let's say, compared to the old one?
The benefits.
For you.
If you look at the RCF of Heijmans, I think it's fair to say that there were still quite a few conditions in there that were from, how you call it in English, special asset management period? Or whatever you want to phrase it in English.
[Foreign language]
Yeah, that one.
Yeah.
Last time when we renewed it was in a time of Van Wanrooij acquisition, and we had different priorities.
Yeah.
This time, we, I think, also managed to renegotiate, you could argue, some of these terms and conditions. For example, we used to have three covenants, so solvability, leverage rates, interest cover. We now only have interest cover and leverage, as an example.
Small benefits. Okay, perfect. Thanks.
Possible benefits, yeah.
You sure you're done? Okay. Can you remind us within Living, you still have that, the wooden frame plant?
Yeah.
I think that was loss-making at the EBITDA level in 2025. I think you said, if my memory serves me well, that it would go to breakeven in 2026. Can you remind us, what was the impact of the wooden frame plant in H1 2026 on EBIT?
Yeah. Unfortunately not breakeven yet. It was EUR 1 million loss.
What was it last year? Just to get the comparison, roughly.
I think by heart, two or three.
Got it. Okay. A follow-up on Connecting. Would it be fair to say, to assume, that in the mix, the revenue component coming from energy, so the TenneTs and the Nexans of this world, that that mix will continue to increase relative to the other components within Connecting?
Yes. If you bear in mind what we shared at the Capital Markets Day. The total increase of Connecting will come half from energy, half from the rest, where currently energy is only 25%. That I think answers your question.
Also the one from Leontien. Then, just wanted to come back on this, I'm sorry, holding cost, but if the implementation was done, completed in May, okay, you have some other stuff to do. I can understand the EUR 4 million in H2, but why additional cost in 2027, 2028? I didn't get that.
No. There will be additional costs, but they'll be much more marginal. What we have done is we moved technically to the new SAP version in May.
Yeah.
Technically means one-on-one from A to B, no improvements. Combining a technical migration with improvements was deemed too risky. What we are going to do is do now via three or four releases, the business improvements. A last part of the preparation will now happen in H2. That's why we foresee EUR 4 million of cost. Don't hold me to it, Martijn, there might be EUR 1 million or EUR 2 million next year as well. I don't know by heart. That's why the implementations are staged simply from a de-risking point of view.
Okay. My understanding was that this EUR 4 million would continue in 2027.
No.
Fair enough.
There might be a bit more cost next year. I honestly don't know. A couple of million, it should be done.
Okay. When we're talking about the underlying EBIT, it obviously includes the step-up of the Van Wanrooij amortization.
Correct.
Yeah. What was the delta between that amortization in H1 this year and H1 last year?
EUR 6 million lower.
Got it. Do you think you're comfortable with providing some sort of guidance what it will be in the second half of this year?
No. In H1, it was EUR 11 million. I would argue same number for H2, but it really depends on which plots will be developed.
Yeah.
To give you an indication, Martijn, when we bought Van Wanrooij, in September 2023, it was EUR 142 million.
Now we have EUR 68 million left, I think H2 and also part of next year, we'll still see a sizable step-up via cost being expensed.
After that point, I expect it to be small-ish for, I don't know, the next 10 or 15 years, whenever last plot that we have is finally being developed.
Yeah, EUR 22 million this year, perhaps EUR 15 million next year.
For example, it should really slow down.
Go into single digit? Yeah.
I assume yes.
Assume. Sure. That's it from my side. Thank you.
I see in my rounds. How's Kepler going over here? Any more questions? No. For you? No. I guess the honor is yours to ask the last question. I don't know if it's an honor.
Martijn again from the OD. Just a follow-up on the question regarding the ground position, the purchases, that you do it in three stages. Could you more or less indicate firstly, the breakdown of those stages? Secondly, what happens if you don't get an approval permit from the government because there's still an outstanding balance? Is it then-
The three stages are an example. There are also plots that we buy en bloc, stock, and barrel, so there's not a fixed process where you always do three stages, but it is the most common one. To your question, if you would not get to that stage, then you would be stuck with the position of that land at that lower cost, and the seller would not get the kicker because there's no agreement.
Are you then willing to pay much more per square meter than others, because otherwise as a seller, I would rather take the 100% for sure at a somewhat lesser level than-
If there are other companies doing that, bear in mind, that is higher risk. If you buy land for, let's say, EUR 100 a square meter, you really must be damn sure that you will have construction on that piece of land over the next couple of years. You must have then a planning zone.
Sure.
If you don't have, and you're paying EUR 100 per sq m, well, that's a high risk, let's say.
Again, the seller could get, let's say.
No.
90 sq m straightforward.
No.
You might be paying EUR 100 million.
That's not the real business.
Okay.
That's not the real business. There might be a cowboy doing that, but I think all reputable property development companies use the staged approach simply as a de-risking measure.
Could be done with a very small plot, but not with the bigger ones.
Right. I think that were all the questions. I'd like to say have a nice summer.