Annual Report 2013

Annual Report 2013 2013 was a turbulent year for Movares. The markets were highly unpredictable. The first half of the year was good as far as Movares was concerned, but things declined sharply in September and October. December, however, was excellent, giving us a positive year overall. Total turnover was € 142.4 million, yielding an operating result of € 6.6 million. Budget cuts and the ongoing crisis are bringing a great deal of uncertainty. This requires a flexible organization and flexible staff. That strategy has worked well over the past year, allowing us to respond to market developments without taking drastic action. The reorganization we carried out in mid-2012 has borne fruit in 2013. The various disciplines are grouped more closely, allowing us to react better to customers’ multidisciplinary requirements. In 2013, the vision that we developed at the end of 2012 became more concrete. Being a relatively specialized company has consequences. Our strategy is not changing in any fundamental manner, but we are tweaking certain aspects. We will be looking more closely than ever at the degree to which our disciplines are clearly differentiated. Innovation, technical automation and partners (including strategic partners) play an important role here. Staff terms and conditions will also be under examination, as we seek to align them with our company vision and strategy. One positive development is the move towards calls for tender where quality is the deciding factor, rather than price. We welcome calls for tender on the basis of “most advantageous tender” and “best value procurement”. We believe this is a positive development for the engineering consultancy industry as a whole. Quality is the most important element, the customer is central and focus and flexibility will be the key factors for the coming years. Movares is ready to put these concepts into action. Our customers and partners have placed a great deal of trust in us during 2013, and we shall do everything in our power to continue to deserve that trust in 2014. Executive Board, Movares Group B.V. J. M. van den Elzen J. C. Buisman P. de Roos