CEO Lucas Polles Positive feedback on performance and debt reduction in the United States

In this article you will find information about:
Lucas Poles⁇

Lucas Bols performed well in the last financial year, although Corona is still a theme in various markets, mainly due to the good performance of the United States. This is what CEO Huub van Doorne said in an interview with ABM Financial News on Wednesday.

In the United States, Lucas Poles gained market share. The number of points of sale has increased by more than 20 per cent to over 50,000. “A good performance,” Van Dorn said. As with the travel industry, it made up for the countries where the corona was still under pressure. CEO Bassova believes he has acted “more than the best”.

Lucas Bols is positive about the outlook. “The United States continues to grow and we expect further recovery in the hospitality sector in Western Europe. We expect the Japanese market and all markets related to travel to gradually recover in the coming months,” Van Dorn said.

Free cash flow increased from 11.4 to 15.6 million euros per year. Lucas Poles invested heavily in its stock last year.

Distiller said disruptions in the global supply chain last year affected both the availability and prices of raw materials and logistics services, which has been affected by recent macroeconomic and geopolitical instability. As this growth is expected to continue this fiscal year, Lucas Poles has invested in working capital to keep more inventory.

Van Dorn does not think the stock should increase further.

Lucas Polls can only offer high costs to customers 3 to 6 months late. He noted that prices had risen in April and would have to do so again in the coming months, which, according to Van Dorn, could only offset structural cost increases.

Van Dorn is very pleased that the debt has been reduced from more than 92 million to less than 61 million euros. “Very happy and a big step,” the CEO said, thinking the debt could be reduced a little more. Lucas Pauls now has a debt ratio of 3, but he thinks it could be 2 to 3. “We feel comfortable with it.” Earlier, according to Van Dorn, there was frequent criticism that Lucas Bols owed too much money, “but we’re good at the game now”.

It also allows you to act when the opportunity to acquire comes.

Although Lucas Polles has decided not to pay dividends for the last financial year, it seems that shareholders can expect interim dividends again this year.

Learn more about the topics in this post:

Ascx_fonds