Message from the CEO

We, at D’Ieteren Group, have been able to capitalise on our strengths in 2021 across all our activities. In doing so, and despite continued uncertainty in the external environment, we were able to deliver record results. Today, we remain determined to invest and to grow our family of businesses, despite continued unforeseen events in the world around us.

Capitalise on our strengths

The performance improvement experienced by Belron, our largest business, over the last couple of years has been consistent and continuous, both financially and non-financially. During 2021, a year in which Covid-19 related restrictions persisted in many parts of its footprint, and in which labour capacity and supply chain issues surfaced, the positive momentum continued. 2021 was also the year, in which, together with our partners CD&R and the Lubner family, we broadened and strengthened the shareholder structure for Belron going forward. We are very happy that Hellman & Friedman, BlackRock Private Equity Partners and GIC, three very reputable and worldwide investment groups, have joined us to help develop Belron even further. It has also been an occasion for us to reaffirm our long-term commitment as a majority shareholder in Belron.

The second big change in our Group in 2021 was the arrival of a new member to our family of businesses, with the 40% stake in TVH, alongside the Thermote family. TVH is the leading global independent distributor of aftermarket parts for the material handling, construction & industrial, and agricultural equipment. Its strong values and culture, its management team and approach, as well as its successful track record and future plans have contributed to our conviction. We feel honoured that the Thermote family selected us as their partner to continue developing TVH on the long term.

Thirdly, D’Ieteren Automotive experienced important changes too, having operated its first full year as a separate legal entity within the Group. The accelerated transformation that took place in 2020 provided an important cushion to absorb the major delivery issues that hit the entire automotive industry due to the shortage in semi-conductors and other crucial components in the production chain. Despite this, D’Ieteren Automotive was able to deliver a strong sales performance, thanks to, amongst other things, a very successful virtual ‘Salon de l’auto’, and saw a record high order book going into 2022. The business also continued to work on its efficiency, particularly in the Brussels-based dealerships, and it continued to extend its service offering to newer forms of mobility taking, for instance, its first steps in bike retail.

Finally, Moleskine, which continued to suffer a difficult business environment given the partial retail lockdowns imposed around the world still, used the year to simplify its offering and number of SKUs, as well as its internal processes and organisation, and to upgrade its e-commerce channel. As a result, as the retail traffic started to return in the second half of the year, the company was able to capitalise on its efforts rapidly, reaching its profitability budget for the year. Moleskine today is in a much better position to focus its commercial efforts, and to translate them into solid financial results.

Deliver record results

We delivered record financial results at the Group level, with our adjusted profit before tax group’s share reaching €493.4m, 52% up on 2020 and €326m of free cash-flow (group’s share) has been generated.

Furthermore, our non-financial results have been excellent, with employee engagement and net promoter scores at very high levels at both Belron and D’Ieteren Automotive. On the ESG front, concrete strategies for each of our businesses were translated into action plans in 2021, and we are beginning to see first results on specific KPIs such as the 72% glass recycling at Belron, 32% fewer CO2 emissions compared to 2019 at D’Ieteren Automotive, and more environmentally friendly waste management approach at Moleskine, saving 45 tonnes of paper.

Our performance trajectory has been noticed and recognised by capital markets as well during the course of 2021. Our share price increased 153.1% over the year. Euronext awarded us the BEL Mid Company of the Year Award, and the leading Belgian business newspaper De Tijd voted us #1 best-performing holding worldwide. On March 9, 2022, we were notified that we were included in the BEL20 again.

We see it as a sign of the trust our shareholders place in us and in the growing family of businesses that we are building. Additionally, it is a strong tribute to the people who work in the Group, at Belron, at D’Ieteren Automotive, at Moleskine, at D’Ieteren Immo and at TVH. Their dedication, creativity and resilience in these uncertain times really have made the difference, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them once more.

Continue to invest and grow

In 2022 and beyond, we will continue our value creation journey, investing for the long term, in search of excellence and meaningful impact:

At Belron, we are accelerating the investments in the Fit For Growth programme, which will allow us to transform and digitise all major business processes. The implementation phase is now fully up and running. In the period 2021-2025, we plan to invest close to €250m through this programme, and we anticipate lifting our margins by 200bps as a result of it.
D’Ieteren Automotive will continue to extend and innovate its mobility offering to address the existing and emerging needs of customers, both in B2C and B2B, and both in the core business and through the Lab Box incubator. As the electrification of vehicles gathers speed, so will the charging solutions that EDI offers.
D’Ieteren Immo keeps upgrading its sites, in terms of capacity, attractiveness, and sustainability.
Moleskine is on track with its 'Fewer, Bigger, Better' strategy. In 2022, we will progressively see it refresh its product offering, and enhance its brand experience that is quite unique.
TVH is consistently developing itself, investing in people, warehouses and better online tools. The company is also embarking on an important modernisation programme, called Innovatis, that will provide it with the necessary tools to keep growing and going for years to come.

Finally, we have also signed an agreement during the month of March 2022 to take over Parts Holding Europe (PHE), a leading autoparts distributor based in France and operating in six European countries. We hope to close the deal in the third quarter of 2022. It shows that we continue our origination efforts to add a limited number of additional growth platforms to our Group, pursuing systematically and with discipline our mission to build a growing family of businesses.

Being a CEO also allows me to be a Chief Thank You Officer. 2021 has been a fantastic year, thanks to all of you. An explicit and big thank you on my behalf to our people, our customers, our shareholders and all the other partners in the growing D’Ieteren Group ecosystem.

Francis Deprez,
CEO D’Ieteren Group