Today I'm bringing you a few insights into Royal Heijmans ($HEIJM (-0,23 %) ). The company wasn't on my watchlist and I hadn't heard of it before. Last year, the share price rose by 160 (!) % and the question now is whether this can be repeated in 2025.

Royal Heijmans is a leading Dutch construction and infrastructure company active in residential construction (Living), commercial and industrial projects (Working) and infrastructure and energy projects (Connecting). The company focuses on sustainable construction methods, digital innovation and the energy transition in order to develop long-term and low-emission solutions for the European market.

Royal Heijmans presented an overall positive business development with strong growth in all business areas during its 2024 annual results conference call. In addition to the financial performance, strategic developments and sustainability targets were also highlighted. Particularly pleasing was the 160% increase in the share price in 2024, underlining investor confidence in Heijmans.

CFO Gavin van Boekel presented sales growth of over 22% to EUR 2.6 billion, with all segments - Living, Working and Connecting - achieving significant growth. EBITDA rose to 199 million euros, which corresponds to a margin of 7.7%. Net profit increased by 50% to 90 million euros, resulting in a proposed dividend of 1.64 euros per share.

In the Living segment, home sales rose by 23% to 3,181 units, although the order backlog fell short of expectations due to delays in approval procedures. Working increased sales by 90 %, with growth in both the technical service business and project management. The order backlog grew by 15% to 923 million euros. In the Connecting division, sales rose to 997 million euros, with the share of energy-related activities already reaching 20%.

For 2025, Heijmans expects further sales growth to around 2.75 billion euros and an EBITDA margin of at least 8%.

Heijmans is pursuing the goal of achieving emission-free construction by 2030. A reduction of 30% was already achieved in 2024. The company is increasingly focusing on sustainable solutions, including energy-efficient buildings and emission-free construction processes.

An important growth area is the energy transition, which already contributed 300 million euros to turnover in 2024 and continues to offer strong potential. At the same time, challenges such as approval delays and planning capacities in residential construction continue to affect the market.

The subsequent Q&A session initially focused on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Heijmans welcomed the new reporting obligations in principle, but criticized the different definitions of the institutions and the high level of detail of the requirements. The company calls for the focus to be placed more on actual sustainability measures and less on bureaucratic processes.

Another key topic was the Landbank strategy. Analysts asked about the cash flow impact of the increased number of houses in the land bank. Management explained that there has been increased investment in strategic land reserves, with financing agreements structured in such a way that the impact on the balance sheet occurs as late as possible.

Particular attention was paid to the timber house factorywhich was built in 2024. While production is not yet profitable, the aim for the current year is to increase production to over 200 houses. In the long term, Heijmans sees great potential in this segment, as sustainable construction methods are becoming increasingly important.

The debt position and the use of cash flow were also discussed. Heijmans prefers to use free funds for targeted M&A activities or investments in the land bank instead of repaying debt early.

One analyst questioned the conservative EBITDA guidance of at least 8 %. Management clarified that this is a realistic forecast, as market dynamics such as approval procedures and economic uncertainties must be taken into account.

The order backlog in the Connecting order backlog in the Connecting. Despite the stable order backlog, Heijmans is increasingly focusing on long-term framework agreements and recurring business models in order to ensure sustainable growth.

With regard to working capital it was explained that a positive development was achieved in 2024 due to the housing market, but that a similar improvement is not expected in 2025.

In the area of infrastructure growth will be driven by the energy transition and increased renovation measures. Heijmans has deliberately opted for greater diversification in order to be less dependent on large-scale projects.

Conclusion: Heijmans achieved strong growth in 2024 and is also optimistic for 2025. The expansion in the areas of sustainability and infrastructure, combined with a solid financial strategy, gives the company a stable foundation for the coming years.

Exciting share? Yes or no? What do you think?