Investment dream Lotus Bakery aims to get Bel20 seat

From around the turn of the millennium 1000 euros in Lotus Bakeries

invested, in the meantime saved more than 83,000 euros. Few companies on the Brussels Stock Exchange can do better. Texav Holdings has come close somewhat with a profit of 6000 percent over the same period. On Tuesday, the biscuit producer’s high share price took another leap thanks to Semi-annual report banging. The success story of Biscoff’s caramel biscuit products increased sales by 13 percent and profits by 17 percent.

The growth story is not over yet. Healthy snack brands like Nakd, Kiddylicious and Bear have seen a strong rebound after the coronavirus crisis and could play an important role in the growing on-the-go trend as consumers replace their meals with convenient and nutritious snacks on the go. A consumer pattern that KBC Securities analyst Jay Sipes describes as a “snack” and believes provides a solid basis for future growth.

Lotus Bakery has reached a new record price of €5,500 after the impressive numbers. To make the nominally more expensive stake more accessible, small investors have long dreamed of a stock split. But this time also an official lotus: “Stock splits are not taken into account.”

However, the company is taking a different approach towards its shareholders. It intends to significantly increase the so-called investor relations, specifically towards potential foreign shareholders. “Our stake is now entirely Belgian and that is no longer compatible with the international company we are today,” explains Director of Communications Prichtjee Hahn. “We want to better align and get foreign investors excited about our story, including through roadshows.”

By bringing foreign capital on board, Lotus wants to increase the turnover or speed of its stake. This shows the ratio of the number of shares traded to the total number of shares available. In doing so, it tacitly expresses the ambition to join Bel20, because speed is one of the Bel20 criteria for an entry ticket.

With a market capitalization of 4.71 billion euros, Lotus is already big enough. Lotus Bakeries will immediately be a solid middle ground larger than the six current Bel20 employees: Melexis, Galapagos, Cofinimmo, Befimmo, Telenet and Aedifica. But the second condition, the so-called free-floating velocity, is below the 35 percent liquidity standard and is currently barred from entry.

“If we can get to the Bel20 by increasing the speeds, that’s a great bonus,” says Hahn. Having a seat in the Star Index will automatically increase the international resonance of Lotus Bakery and diversify its contribution. Lotus Bakeries is 70 percent owned by the Lotus Bakery Management Office (STAK) of the founding families Boone and Stevens. The first step in the magic attack on foreign capital has already been taken. Lotus bakeries published for the first time Show in English About its semi-annual numbers on the renewable investor page.