Letter from the Chairman of the Board of Directors

2020 was an eventful year for Implenia. The COVID-19 pandemic meant that from March comprehensive measures had to be put in place to protect employees on construction sites, while office workers had to get used to working from home for a while. The management team and our employees dealt with these challenges professionally and with great flexibility and commitment; and they kept our operational business going.

Implenia reviewed strategy implementation in all divisions last year and found that it needed to be intensified and accelerated, especially for the strategic priorities “Portfolio” and “Profitable Growth”. As a consequence, the company had to take unavoidable and painful measures, such as portfolio adjustments, a restructuring that included layoffs, as well as write-downs and a rightsizing of businesses and functions.

Implenia’s results for 2020 were, therefore, influenced by various factors. Operational business performed well, and numerous flagship projects were acquired. The spin-off of half our development portfolio at market value to establish Ina Invest, with an IPO in June, also had a positive influence on results. Meanwhile, write-downs, re-evaluations, and restructuring provisions all had a negative effect.

Implenia will focus in future on integrated construction and real estate services in Switzerland and Germany. In other markets we will only offer tunnelling and related infrastructure projects. Non-strategic and non-profitable areas of business are being sold or ramped down, while we are outsourcing capital-intensive activities and equipment. With an eye on future success, Implenia is driving forward external and internal innovation, and nurturing the best talent.

We are confident that with the measures we have taken, Implenia will become a strong, profitable company with a substantially improved risk profile. The Group is firmly on the way to realising its unchanged vision and strategy of becoming a leading multinational integrated construction and real estate services provider.

Implenia laid the foundations for profitable growth in 2020. To support this effort and to strengthen the balance sheet, the Board of Directors is proposing to the General Meeting of Shareholders on 30 March 2021 that no dividend be paid.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank all employees for their hard work during the year, and to thank you for your trust. I look forward to your continued support as a shareholder.

Hans Ulrich Meister

Chairman of the Board of Directors