Income
Net income came in at € 2.6 million in 2016, compared with € 4.4 million in 2015. The operating income was € 2.4 million in 2016, € 2.6 million lower than in 2015. This decrease was primarily due to the increase of € 2.9 million in operating expenses, offset by a slight increase in the management fee.
Management fee
The Management fee increased by € 0.2 million to € 30.7 million in 2016 (2015: € 30.5 million). Despite the increase in assets under management by 13% (2016: € 8.5 billion; 2015: € 7.5 billion), the management fee was only marginally higher, due to a fee incentive of € 3.2 million granted to bpfBOUW.
Operating costs
Operating costs rose by € 2.9 million (11.4%) to € 28.3 million in 2016, compared with € 25.4 million in 2015. These higher costs were the result of a € 1.3 million increase in personnel costs and a € 1.6 million increase in other operating costs. This benefits the funds and increases the costs for the management company, at a stable management fee.
The higher personnel costs were caused by an increase in the number of FTEs to 136.6 in 2016 (2015: 131.1), hiring of temporary staff and an increase in training costs. This increase will enable Bouwinvest to record controlled growth of its assets under management and remain state-of-the-art as an organisation.
The increase in other costs was further due to an increase in costs related to ‘non-deductible VAT’. This was the result of a ruling by the tax inspector, as a result of which the VAT exemption related to joint asset management was applicable retroactively. Consequently, the level of non-deductible VAT increased to 70% from 50%. This led to a one-off extra cost item of € 0.6 million for the period 2013-2015 and € 0.5 million for 2016.
Additional other operating costs were the rise of costs for ICT (€ 0.2 million) related to a number of IT projects (e.g. the renewal of the ERM architecture and new planning software), as well as costs related to the increase in the number of applications. Furthermore, to boost the company's corporate positioning and visibility, communications expenses increased with € 0.1 million in 2016. And finally, another € 0.2 million in other operating costs related to taking out a general professional liability insurance.
Fiscal result
Deferred tax assets are less the calculated corporate taxes of € 1.0 million for 2016 and an additional write-off of € 0.4 million related to a recalculation of the deferred tax assets. Deferred tax assets are recognised on the basis of losses from previous years that may be settled with the tax authorities. These deferred tax assets can be realised in the coming two years through to year-end 2018. A deferred tax liability of € 0.4 million is accounted for regarding the difference between the fiscal and the commercial valuation of participations.
Financial position
Bouwinvest’s shareholders’ equity remained virtually stable at € 29.3 million in 2016, from € 29.4 million at year-end 2015. This was due to the addition of the net profit, less the € 2.7 million in dividend paid out to bpfBOUW. The solvency ratio decreased by 10% to 79% in 2016, as a result of the fee incentive payable to bpfBOUW.
Cash position
At year-end 2016, Bouwinvest had a total of € 21.2 million available in its current account with our house bank ABN AMRO. This was more than sufficient to cover all outstanding liabilities and was also in line with the formal requirements of the Alternative Investment Fund Manager Directive (AIFMD).
Profit allocation and dividend policy
The management proposes to allocate the result to other reserves.