Amsterdam, 23 February 2024 – Brunel International N.V. (Brunel; BRNL), a global provider of flexible workforce solutions and expertise today announced its fourth quarter and full year 2023 results.
“In 2023 we celebrated many highlights. Based on the strong first nine months, we continued high single digit growth in the year while we attracted many new clients. We strengthened our leadership team through internal promotions, had a high engagement score from candidates and colleagues, and attracted many new talents.Organic revenue was up 14% YoY in Q4 2023. Reported revenue was up 9% YoY, with a negative impact from working days of 2% and a negative effect of FX of 3%.Organic gross profit was up 6.5% YoY in Q4 2023. Reported gross profit was up 0.8% YoY, of which working days had a negative impact of 3.7% while FX had a negative effect of 2%. The gross margin decreased mainly as a result of a change in the mix due to stronger growth in regions with a relatively lower gross margin.Organic EBIT was up 3.1% YoY in Q4 2023. Reported EBIT was down 12.8% YoY, of which working days had a negative impact of 13.5% while FX had a negative effect of 2.4%.
Summary (amounts in EUR million):The effective tax rate increased from 35.2% in 2022 to 35.8% in 2023. Net profit came in at EUR 32.2 million (2022: EUR 30.8 million), up 5% and resulting in earnings per share of EUR 0.63 (2022: EUR 0.58).We propose a cash dividend of EUR 0.55 per share over the 2023 financial year (2022: EUR 0.55 per share), which represents a pay-out ratio of 87%.The net cash balance at 31 December 2023 is EUR 31.8 million (EUR 77.8 per 31 December 2022), of which EUR 20.1 million is restricted (EUR 15.5 per 31 December 2022). The decrease in net cash is mainly the result of the increase in working capital as a result of our revenue growth, combined with a slight delay in collection.Due to health reasons, Just Spee has decided to step down from the Supervisory Board as of the AGM in May this year.Founder of Taylor Hopkinson,Tom Hopkinson has successfully managed growth acceleration in our Renewables vertical, after the acquisition of Taylor Hopkinson by Brunel in December 2021. Combining Taylor Hopkinson’s expertise in offshore wind with Brunel’s global infrastructure and expertise in contracting, has resulted in many revenue synergies. Preparing for the next phase and level, we agreed that, from January 2024, Tom Hopkinson will move into a global advisory role. Tom will focus on sharing industry expertise across the entire business, extending professional networks and industry relationships and developing our brand as an industry partner and enabler to clients worldwide. With Tom’s extensive knowledge, expertise and network in renewables, he will continue to add significant value to the business and will be available for advice to the new leadership team upon their request. Considering the change in role and responsibilities, we have agreed to an earlier exercise of the put and call option on the shares in Taylor Hopkinson (20%) he still owns. This will be settled in Q1 2024, in stead of Q1 2025 as was initially agreed.The Brunel Foundation and OffshoreWind4Kids had the opportunity to teach children from Weekendschool Eindhoven more about wind energy. The Weekendschool helps children develop their talents and gives them a glimpse into what their future job could look like. The kids were stimulated to imagine an exciting future in the field of wind energy. Trying on the mandatory clothing when building wind turbines at sea, made the day complete.The Brunel Foundation was invited by Taylor Hopkinson to organize a Lunch and Learn inspiration session about autism. As part of the session, we invited guest speaker Elise Cordaro. Elise gave a spotlight on what it is like to live with an ADHD and Autism diagnosis. She talked about how she navigates the workplace and provided hints and tips for working with and managing people with Autism.The Delft colleagues rolled up their sleeves for a lunch break clean up this quarter. Besides, marketing colleagues from around the world joined a lunch break cleanup as part of their Global Marketing Summit in Amsterdam. Altogether they collected over 50 kg of litter. The numbers in our Global Trash ‘n Trace Challenge with Litterati grew to over 493,000 pieces of litter picked and registered in our challenge.Today (February 23, 2024), at 10:30 AM CET, Brunel will be hosting a results call.Other locations – see www.brunelinternational.net
(GlobeNewsWire)