Collaboration par excellence

Example: Hasselt City Hall, Belgium — The building of the new municipal administration center in Hasselt, Belgium, demonstrates how seamless collaboration in building projects can minimize risks and save costs from the design phase all the way to commissioning.
A joint project of several brands of the Nemetschek Group.
Nemetschek brands involved: Allplan, GRAPHISOFT, Solibri

Pioneering planning and project execution with Open BIM

“The end-to-end use of BIM solutions constitutes genuine added value for all stakeholders in the building process
because it enables seamless and efficient collboration”
Steven Hendrickx, Head Architect in Hasselt

Large-scale, highly complex building projects in particular require ongoing, reliable and efficient coodination between all stakeholders – both internal and external – across disciplines and between companies. Therefore, in association with other market players, the Nemetschek Group is promoting the Open BIM data standard. This is a universal, collaborative approach to designing, constructing and operating buildings based on open standards and workflows It makes it possible for project stakeholders to collaborate, even if the type of software varies from user to user. The Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) interface has established itself as an open standard and is therefore of central significance.

Sharing and evaluating data throughout the entire product life cycle saves time and money and improves quality. The administration of data is key to this digital transformation, for it is only possible to take full advantage of the potential if each stakeholder can access the data that he or she needs at any given time. This begins with a realistic BIM building model, which is an essential prerequisite for a genuine 5D workflo. This model is no longer limited to just 3D construction data; it also includes data concerning the dimensions of time and costs.

Seamless collaboration exemplified by the Hasselt City Hall

Under the management of the architect team comprising Jaspers-Eyers, MASS Architects and Michel Janssen, a new municipal administration center is being built in Hasselt. The complex, consisting of a renovated building section and a new building, provides approx. 17,000 m2 for the city administration and social services as well as offices. The architects and their most important partners are using Open BIM software solutions for the entire construction process. Three Nemetschek solutions are being implemented for this project: Archicad from Graphisoft for the design and planning of the architects, Allplan Engineering for civil engineering, and the Solibri Model Checker for the BIM quality control carried out by the construction company.

From the beginning, all information concerning the building project is contained in the digital building model – from the draft to implementation – including all design details, desired materials, fire protection requirements, acoustic properties, insulation and building structures, and administration. This constitutes considerable added value for all stakeholders compared to the old standard model, which was purely 3D. Thus, this improvement ensures more than just seamless collaboration between all those involved. The complex project can be turned over to the municipality – the proud building owner – with the required quality, on time and within the specified budget.

Hasselt City Hall is groundbreaking – in terms of design, planning and project implementation.

Independent and yet consistent

Steven Hendrickx, the head architect in Hasselt, recognized four decisive factors with Open BIM over the course of the successful project:

  • Individual partners design their model with their preferred BIM software, and with their own templates. Outstanding collaboration is ensured, though, thanks to a common, uniform standard which is specified in advance.
  • The division of labor is defined at the beginning of the project. Data on statics, for instance, have an essential impact on the architecture and structural design. Data on heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, on the other hand, are also important but don’t generally flow directly into the architecture. These data, for example, can be sufficiently analyzed with the BIM solution for quality assurance from Solibri.
  • Design changes in one area don’t necessarily affect the plans of all the others involved in the project. The architecture and the building stage are inherently the most closely linked.
  • The expertise of the staff, i.e., extensive holistic knowledge of the various building disciplines, is also critical for the success of the project.

Two examples of the advantage of precise planning

In Hasselt, the construction company was commissioned with excavation, among other tasks. An assessment of the amount of sand that needed to be removed was done based on a cal culation using conventional 2D planning methods, which yielded a result of 800 cubic meters. The engineers used the Solibri Model Checker based on Open BIM and the data provided by the architects and arrived at a figue that was just half this amount, i.e., 400 cubic meters of sand. This shows how exact the work with Open BIM solutions can be.

The steel struts to be installed are another example: With the interface function IFC Exports from Allplan, it was possible to use the BIM model to automatically calculate which steel struts needed fieproofing. All it took was a mouse click to obtain precise results, right down to the running meter. In projects that don’t use Open BIM solutions, these calculations are made by manually entering the data from 2D drawings in Excel or some other software and then recalculating and evaluating the data for use in quotations and planning, a process that is susceptible to error and one that leaves a lot of room for interpretation. These errors often go undetected until the actual cost planning is already completed. In the case of the Hasselt City Hall,  it was possible to avoid such errors from the outset.

Converting to Open BIM pays off

As is the case with any change, it takes a certain amount of time for companies and employees to accept BIM as the norm. The best way, according to Steven Hendrickx, is to start out by planning smaller projects using BIM. The experience thereby gained will make it possible to complete successively larger BIM projects. The advantages of collaborating through Open BIM are obvious: The entire workflow is much simpler for all project stakeholders, and building projects are completed within time and cost budgets.

CONCLUSION

Consistent standards and open interfaces in par-ticular are essential for successful building projects. Stakeholders need solutions that can “work together” for all and any individual tasks being performed. Seamless collaboration between humans and machines: This is ensured with Open BIM, and backed by the brands of the Nemetschek Group.

Reference projects on this topic:

Nemetschek Group presents strong half-year figures: Revenue growth in the second quarter continues to accelerate

Corporate News Company News

  • Revenue rises by 33.8% in Q2 to new high of EUR 68.6 million
  • Revenue for the half year increases by 32.2% to EUR 135.2 million
  • US acquisition of Bluebeam maintains extremely positive development
  • Revenues from software licenses in the half year rise with 45.6% to record high of EUR 70.4 million
  • EBITDA in the first half year rises by 27.4% to EUR 32.6 million
  • Outlook for 2015 affirmed

Munich, July 31, 2015 – The Nemetschek Group (ISIN 0006452907) maintained its dynamic development from the first quarter of 2015 and accelerated revenue growth in the second quarter. The high level of growth in the first half of the year, which was primarily non-domestic and with software licenses, is accompanied by key strategic measures, e.g. investments in further internationalization of the brands, extension of BIM 5D expertise and increased sales/distribution and marketing activities.

Dynamic first half year

Group revenue in the second quarter rose to EUR 68.6 million, a growth of 33.8% compared to the same quarter in the previous year (EUR 51.3 million). In the first half of 2015, revenue increased by 32.2% to EUR 135.2 million (previous year’s period: EUR 102.3 million). Adjusted for currency fluctuations, revenue in the first half year rose by about 26%. Bluebeam Software, Inc., acquired as of October 31, 2014, contributed EUR 21.0 million to revenue in the first half year. The Group’s purely organic growth was thus at a high 11.6% and consequently exceeded the target range of 6% to 9%.

Likewise, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose considerably by 27.4% to EUR 32.6 million after six months (previous year’s period: EUR 25.6 million). The EBITDA margin was 24.1% in the half year, following 25.0% in the previous year. Forward-looking investments, e.g. in personnel for sales/distribution and marketing for the brands, had an impact on the margin.

In the first half year, the tax rate increased to 32.7% (previous year: 28.6%). Deferred tax expenses on unrealized intra-Group foreign exchange gains had the effect of increasing the tax rate. In the first half of 2015, net income (Group shares) rose by 7.5% to EUR 15.5 million (previous year’s period: EUR 14.4 million). Accordingly, the earnings per share increased from EUR 0.37 in the previous year to EUR 0.40. Adjusted for depreciation and amortization from purchase price allocation (PPA), net income for the half year rose more strongly by 18.7% to EUR 19.1 million (previous year’s period: EUR 16.1 million). This corresponds to an adjusted earnings per share of EUR 0.50 (previous year’s period: EUR 0.42 per share).

“In the second quarter of 2015, we strengthened the high growth dynamics from the first quarter. The growth drivers were our existing brands as well as the Bluebeam brand acquired last year, whose development we are very satisfied with. Parallel to this, we are investing in the extension of our international market presence, in an effective sales/distribution system, in innovations across the life cycle of the AEC industry and in strengthening our 5D expertise. This is the prerequisite for securing future growth and making optimum use of our great opportunities in the markets,” says Patrik Heider, Spokesman and CFOO of the Nemetschek Group.

Focus on internationalization – significant US market gains

The Nemetschek Group was able to reinforce its growth and considerably extend its market presence on international markets. In total, non-domestic revenue in the first half of 2015 climbed by 47.2% to EUR 90.0 million (H1 2014: EUR 61.2 million). In the USA, Bluebeam’s home market, it was possible to more than triple revenues. Domestic revenue also developed positively and rose by 9.8% to EUR 45.2 million (previous year’s period: EUR 41.1 million).

Strong growth with software licenses of 45.6%

Revenues from software licenses rose in the first six months of 2015 with a clear plus of 45.6% to a record high of EUR 70.4 million (previous year’s period: EUR 48.3 million). Revenues from software service contracts increased to EUR 58.3 million, a rise of 20.3% compared to the previous year’s figure of EUR 48.5 million.

“Our first half of the year is marked by two positive developments: On the one hand, our non-domestic growth was considerably faster, especially in the USA. On the other hand, the high level of business in software licenses indicates that we have an excellent position in the AEC market and consequently with our customers. We have thus established a good basis for future growth since licenses mean higher service revenues,” continues Heider.

Healthy balance sheet and high liquid reserves

As of the end of the first half of 2015, the Nemetschek Group maintained an extremely sound net asset structure and financial position. As of June 30, 2015, the equity ratio rose to 47.2% (December 31, 2014: 46.8%). The Group had cash and cash equivalents amounting to EUR 65.0 million and a net liquidity of EUR 11.0 million (December 31, 2014: EUR -3.0 million).

Development of the segments

The Design segment continued to develop positively. Revenue rose by 11.1% in the half year to EUR 94.0 million (previous year’s period: EUR 84.6 million). EBITDA rose to EUR 21.7 million (previous year’s period: EUR 20.3 million), which corresponds to an EBITDA margin of 23.1% (previous year: 24.0%).

As a result of the Bluebeam acquisition, the Build segment was able to grow very strongly. Revenue increased to EUR 28.6 million, which is more than four times the previous year’s figure of EUR 7.1 million. Organic revenue for the half year of EUR 7.6 million was thus 6.2% more than that of the previous year. On a quarterly basis, it was even possible to increase organic revenue by 14%. EBITDA rose to EUR 6.3 million (previous year’s period: EUR 1.6 million), which corresponds to an EBITDA margin of 22.1% (H1 2014: 22.6%).

Revenue in the Manage segment rose by 11.3% to EUR 2.7 million (H1 2014: EUR 2.4 million). EBITDA remained at the previous year’s level at EUR 0.3 million, which corresponds to an EBITDA margin of 11.0% (previous year’s period: 14.4%).

The Media & Entertainment segment showed favorable revenue growth in the first six months, rising by 21.9% to EUR 10.0 million, following EUR 8.2 million in the previous year’s period. EBITDA increased to EUR 4.3 million (previous year’s period: EUR 3.4 million), which caused the EBITDA margin to reach a high 43.1% (previous year’s period: 41.0%).

Outlook for the financial year 2015 affirmed

The Nemetschek Group affirms its forecast for the 2015 financial year on the basis of the strong development in the first half of 2015 and the anticipated revenue and earnings development in the remaining course of the financial year. Revenue in a target range of EUR 262 million to EUR 269 million is expected (corresponding to an increase of 20% to 23%; of this 6% to 9% organic). EBITDA is forecast at between EUR 62 million and EUR 65 million.

Overview of key figures

In EUR millionQ2 2015Q2 2014Δ in %6M 20156M 2014Δ in %
Revenue68.651.3+33.8%135.2102.3+32.2%
- thereof software licenses

35.9

24.0+49.8%

70.4

48.3+45.6%
- thereof software service29.724.7+20.0%58.348.5+20.3%
EBITDA15.212.4+22.6%32.625.6+27.4%
Margin22.2%24.2%24.1%25.0%
Net income (Group shares)7.16.9+3.0%15.514.4+7.5%
Earnings per share in euros0.180.18*+3.0%0.400.37*+7.5%
Net income (Group shares) before depreciation from purchase price allocation8.97.8+14.5%19.116.1+18.7%
Earnings per share before depreciation from purchase price allocation0.230.20*+14.5%0.500.42*+18.7%

* for reasons of better comparability, the earnings per share after the stock split are shown

Key figures by segment

In EUR millionQ2 2015Q2 2014Δ in %6M 20156M 2014Δ in %
Design
Revenue47.842.7+12.1%94.084.6+11.1%
EBITDA10.110.0+0.9%21.720.3+6.9%
Margin21.0%23.4%23.1%24.0%
Build
Revenue14.73.3+351.8%28.67.1+301.1%
EBITDA3.30.7+350.9%6.31.6+291.8%
Margin22.4%22.5%22.1%22.6%
Manage
Revenue1.31.2+10.5%2.72.4+11.3%
EBITDA0.20.1+14.0%0.30.3-15.0%
Margin12.2%11.8%11.0%14.4%
Media & Entertainment
Revenue4.74.1+14.0%10.08.2+21.9%
EBITDA1.71.6+7.7%4.33.4+28.1%
Margin35.8%37.9%43.1%41.0%

The complete 6-month report for 2015 is available for download in the Investor Relations section of the company website.

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