The Blokker family invested another 130 million euro to strengthen the store group’s balance sheet. “It is a signal that the company’s shareholders back the company”, CFO Jeroen Visser.
“Solid family business”
Blokker Holding announced a 52 million euro net loss yesterday and it immediately announced it would invest 200 million euro in the next three years.
CFO Jeroen Visser explained in Dutch business paper NRC where the money should come from. “It is a mixture of several things. We allocate a part by smartly handling our supplies and we will also increase our payment periods [to our suppliers] from 30 to 60 days. The shareholders will pay the rest.”
Asked how much the Blokker family will pay, he said: “We will not divulge that information and we have not set a fixed amount anyway. Once all the plans are drawn up, we will decide the appropriate ratio among the shareholders.”
He did quickly add the following: “They invested 130 million euro in January, to strengthen the balance sheet, which is a signal they back us. We want to have a solid financial basis, especially in the turmoil of today. It helps, with suppliers for instance, that we are considered a solid family business.”
