Op de beursvloer met... TKH Group

Yes, well, originally TKH is TW Kabel, right? That might be good to mention because TW Kabel is probably much better known than TKH. Yes, so you encounter us a lot in daily life as a supplier of networks for energy transmission and for telecommunications, for data and voice. But TKH has shifted its focus significantly over the past decades. Cable is currently about 30% of our activity. New technologies have been added. A very important technology, and actually there are four core technologies: vision technology, camera technology both for security cameras and for industrial automation. With cameras you can assess production processes, do quality inspections. That has become an important pillar of our technology. Furthermore, communication is very important. One of our technology park systems allows direct contact with the alarm center. Yes, the alarm center. And then manufacturing systems, production systems, is our fourth core technology. And what we see is that these four core technologies are constantly being connected into total solutions in a number of markets where TKH is active. At the same time, I indicate that we also spread our risk over several different markets, but always bundle those four core technologies and from there organize our scale advantages.

No, we really have the hardware, the equipment that is mounted next to the door, for example, with which you make a connection. You encounter that, for example, in a parking lot. When you are at the barrier and you can't get out because the barrier refuses or your ticket doesn't work, then you press the button and that is very often our intercom system. Okay, and that is called mission-critical communication. So you also often encounter it in areas where security is very important or where there is a risk of explosion. So on oil platforms, in tunnels, where immediate communication is necessary to indicate what the problem is.

Yes, we are listed on the stock exchange, so I can't say too much about that, but yes, the first quarter went quite well. In August we will announce the half-year figures. But yes, we are a very solid company. I think a good foundation, also due to our risk diversification. Last year, I think we came through the crisis very well. And yes, in that sense, we look to the future with great confidence.

Yes, absolutely. We are actually active in three main market segments: telecommunications, buildings, and also industry. And what you see is that, for example, in the construction sector it is a bit more difficult now. However, we have found solutions for that by further internationalizing. So we see that in the Benelux it is a shrinking market, but internationally there is still so much market share to gain that the perspective for us does not look so bad. In the industrial area, we see that we are strongly focusing on efficiency solutions. And yes, industry must continue, industry must remain competitive, so they must continue to invest in improving their production systems. We are the global market leader for tire building systems, systems that can produce car tires. Yes, and that market leadership we have worldwide, we have a market share of 70%. That also provides nice risk diversification, especially because you are active worldwide. And I think that is the strength for many companies that are truly international: they are much less cyclical. And we also see that in TKH's development over the past 10 years, we have become less cyclical through that international expansion. OK.

That is a recent acquisition that we announced last week. No, last Monday, last week Monday. Yes, announced last Monday. It underscores our ambition in the area of parking systems, parking technology. And with this acquisition, we have made a leap into North America and Australia. We have acquired a company with a lot of additional technology. In those parking garages, what we see is that parking operators are also asking for total solutions and actually no longer want to do business with one, two, or ten different parties, but preferably put everything in one hand. We are playing into that trend with this company. We can also focus on intelligent parking, such that if you are double-parked, you also get a ticket for double parking. They also call that wide parking. And that is of course frustrating for the person parking if someone is parked just over the line and you can't drive into that parking spot. But also guidance in the parking garage, for example, is an important aspect to serve the parker so that he can find his parking spot more easily, with less CO2 emissions in the parking garage. So we are really looking for innovations to...

Well, mainly by investing a lot of money in research and development. Yes, and we made innovation a spearhead 10 years ago. All our revenue from products introduced in the last 2 years must be at least 15% of our turnover. That means you essentially have a completely new portfolio every six years. And we steer very specifically to make that possible. In recent years, we were even at 20% of our turnover coming from innovations. And that has created a real growth engine in TKH Group. Because what you see is that through innovations you can also very easily gain market share. Yes, it's a shame if you have to win market share on price, that comes at the expense of your margin. But through innovations, you can very easily find new customers, customers you sometimes never served before, but the door opens because you have something unique to offer. And we discovered that about 10 years ago and have heavily invested in it. And that's how we have almost tripled our turnover in the last 10 years, from 360 million to now almost 1.2 billion.

Well, I was born and raised in Twente, so I undoubtedly have some of those characteristics. That seems to be a characteristic of people from Twente. Yes, that is perhaps a bit of fitting modesty. In Rotterdam they also have sayings: just make sure you do your work and then the result will come naturally, and when the result is there, the publicity will come naturally. Don't shout from the rooftops before the result is achieved. That is a bit of that Twente soberness. But they are nice results, from what I hear.

We certainly are. No, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely. And if you look at the...

Well, we have a very strong position in Northwestern and Eastern Europe. That is actually about 75% of our turnover. North America is now 10% and Asia is about 15%. What we see is that in Northwestern and Eastern Europe there is still incredible growth potential for us. Based on market share growth potential, we could easily double our turnover there. So in that sense, there are no barriers to further growth. But what we have also seen is that we have now gained a position in North America. So if you already get 10% of your turnover from there, then you also see what is happening in that market and what opportunities there are. And we now have a foundation, and with this new acquisition we have said we will focus more on North America because we expect that in Europe the next few years will be quite difficult. The economy is not yet running at full speed. I hope that will happen as soon as possible, but we are not waiting for that. And what we see is that in North America the markets look a bit better and there is more growth, so it is good to be able to take a share of that.

Yes, very important for us. The dispersed ownership of the shares is, I think, also an advantage for the company. We have many family offices, family officers as shareholders, institutional shareholders, and especially long-term shareholders. And I think that has been very important in TKH's growth strategy to have that support. And ultimately, it also gives us access to the capital market. And we have never done an official rights issue. Ultimately, you are on the stock exchange to use that as a growth instrument. But we have achieved a lot on our own strength. However, by paying stock dividends, we have actually done a small issue every year. And that has led to us strengthening our capital a little bit each time. And that international shareholder base is, I think, very interesting for a company to achieve a good valuation.

Yes, look for the good companies and do your analyses. And yes, I would certainly like to promote that everyone delves a bit further into TKH, because it is truly a fantastic company.