2023-08-11 09:15:15
August 10, 2023 Today at 2:10 AM
The Belgian security company announced a five-step action plan to its staff meeting in extraordinary council. Indexation weighed heavily in its accounts.
Guard and security company staff Protection Unit was invited on Tuesday to an extraordinary business council. He learned that Accounts of his employer were disappointing, both for 2022 and the first half of 2023, and that measurements are required.
After the covid years, Protection Unit and its parent company Unit Group had to digest last year the general increase in costsThen wage indexation cumulative from 14.8% since October. Added to this an absenteeism rate which has risen to worrying levels. And all this against the backdrop, paradoxically, of high increase, marked again in the last quarter of 2022 by the obtaining of a large contract for the European Commission (more than 1,000 jobs transferred in this context).
-8,5 millions €
Unit Group equity
Unit Group posted negative equity of €8.5 million at the end of 2022.
The paradox of strong growth
These various elements are reflected in the 2022 accounts by a strong increase in turnoverboth for Protection Unit (86.6 million euros, compared to 67.9 million in 2021) and for the group (108 million, compared to 81 million the previous year), but by operating and net losses: -1.6 million and -2.3 million respectively for Protection Unit; -8.4 million and -9.4 million for Unit Group. Through the game of reported results, the equity of the first melted from 2.9 to 0.6 million while those of the group slipped into the red at -8.5 million.
“The time has come to put in place sound governance and an efficient operational structure.”
Nicolas Van Ysendyck
CEO de Protection Unit
Would the Belgian group have grown up too fast? It has grown, among other things, through acquisitions, witness the recent takeovers from Fact and SGI. And he employs today more than 3,000 people, which makes it the first Belgian security group and the n°2 on the national market behind the Swedish Securitas. “Too fast? That’s what we’re often told,” replies le CEO Nicolas Van Ysendyck“more opportunities came up that we could not avoid, such as contracts for the European Commission and airports.”
According to the leader, “the time has come to put in place sound governance and an efficient operational structure”.
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Last year, management hoped generate operating cash flow sufficient after the two pandemic years. This was not the case, and the first months of 2023 make it postpone this hope on the beginning of next year. Hence the making of a plan d’actionspresented Tuesday to all of its employees.
Five measures
“Today, the automatic indexation clause becomes almost a condition for signing.”
Nicolas Van Ysendyck
CEO de Protection Unit
Among the measures adopted, Protection Unit is in the process of renegotiate commercial contracts in order to include an automatic indexing clause. The latest wage indexations have cost it dearly since it could not pass them on to its markets. “Today, this clause is almost becoming a condition for signing”, explains the CEO, who adds that customers understand the issue and that around 90% have already accepted the principle.
Second measure, the company reduce operating costst. First targeted, the sponsorship costs.
On his side, staff will be affected, but in a way that will remain relatively light, by three other measures. There alarm center “Vision” will be adapted, the agents will be more empowered in the hope of reducing absenteeism and, last but not least, some jobs will be deleted in the services of “back office”. It will not be a collective dismissal, but half a dozen positions that will disappear. The company will also end a series of interim and consultancy contracts.
That will it be enough to right the boat? Management thinks so, a hope that we share on the union side. There remains the question of refinancing, which seems necessary given the melting of capital, the weight of the debt and the meager cash flow. “We are thinking about it,” agrees the CEO.
François Fornieri transferred his titles to Samuel Di Giovanni
François Fornieri, the co-founder of Mithra Pharma, recently sold his shares in Unit Group to Samuel Di Giovanni, the founder of the guardian group. So does a blocktwenty percent, according to the L-Post. The operation has the effect that Samuel Di Giovanni has become by far majority shareholder of Protection Unit, we are told, in front of the Liège investment fund Noshaq.
The summary
Protection Unit on Tuesday organized a extraordinary business council. The accounts of the security company are disappointing: after the covid years, it had to digest the general increase in coststhen one wage indexation of 14.8%.Added to this is a worrying absenteeism rate. Measures are needed: commercial contracts will be renegotiatedreduced operating costs, reduced absenteeism and compressed back office services, with some layoffs.
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