Annual Report 2009 129 th corporate financial year Proud of their many realisations, the teams of the CFE group are pleased to present the activity report for the year 2009. Compagnie d’Entreprises CFE SA Founded in Brussels on June 21, 1880 Headquarters: 42, avenue Herrmann-Debroux, 1160 Brussels – Belgium Company number 0400.464.795 RPM Brussels Telephone: +32 2 661 12 11 Fax: +32 2 660 77 10 E-mail:
[email protected] Internet: http://www.cfe.be 1 Edito As expected, the CFE group’s 2009 revenue and profit came in below those of the previous year, when it achieved its best-ever perform- ance. However, the decline in revenue (€ -125 million), operating profit (€ -19.3 million) and net after-tax profit (€ -8.2 million) was modest against the backdrop of the global economic crisis. All divisions made a positive contribution to profit. DEME deserves special recognition for again demonstrating its ability to strengthen its position in the international dredging market, fully vindicating the substantial investments made in recent years to modernise its fleet. CFE has many strengths that enable it to weather the economic crisis and move confidently into 2010. The order book, standing at € 2,024 million, is satisfactory, although construction activity is likely to decline from the 2009 level. We intend to resist the temptation to take orders at any price, concentrating instead on profit. To do this, our recent international expansion, especially in Tunisia, holds out good prospects for repositioning our activity. CFE’s broad diversity of business lines and geographical locations is an additional asset, as is our sound financial position, which shields us from liquidity problems.