SIGNIFICANT FACTS AND FIGURES 2013

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INITIAL EFFORTS ARE PAYING OFF

To avoid the price of water being caught in an upward spiral, SWDE is confident that it can limit the trend in operating charges to the rate of inflation + 0.50 % a year. At the same time, however, it has no intention of sacri-ficing its investment programme aimed in particular at continuing with the work of modernizing the network (renewing 1 % of pipelines a year) and ensuring security of supply in the region (production master plan).

In 2013, the efforts made began to take effect. Combined with a fall in the workforce resulting from the non-syste-matic replacement of retired staff, these efforts enabled SWDE to reduce its operating costs by € 0.04/m3 while maintaining an unchanged management policy. Moreo-ver, they also made it possible to partially offset the in-crease in inflation, energy, taxes and investment charges recorded in 2013. SEVEN PRIORITY STRATEGIC ACTIONS

One of the practical steps taken by SWDE to achieve its cle-ar cost-reduction objective is to prioritize strategic activities. Moreover, the prominent event of 2013 was the strategic re-focusing undertaken by SWDE as regards the 2012-2016 busi-ness plan. Priority has been given to seven strategic actions: the lean organization of activities in divisions, the dynamiz-ation and modernization of human resources management, the product master plan, remote management, network per-formance, knowledge of the technical infrastructure and the improvement of customer services.

The first detailed analysis conducted on the basis of the lean management methodology concerned the production and distribution activities. One of the aims of this new manage-ment tool is to track down and eliminate waste such as ope-

rating inefficiencies that hamper the development of SWDE and adversely affect its performance. During the first half of 2014, this process will result in the implementation of a new work organization method for these activities.

The ambitious, even revolutionary HR project includes four main aspects, one of which aims to make the most of skills, define career opportunities and identify and then deploy training modules leading to a certificate that will grant ac-cess to these new career paths ■

The true cost of distribution is the variable which SWDE (Société Wallonne des eaux – Walloon water company) can influence in order to stem the upward trend in the price of water and thus ease the burden on household budgets. SWDE has set itself a target of ten years to reduce its operating costs by € 0.20 per m3. This major long-term project, the foundations of which were laid in 2013, must not affect the quality of the services or the products provided. So a skilful balance has to be achieved.

The two components in the price of water, that is TCD and TCS, the true cost of distribution and the true cost of sa-nitation respectively, have risen by 33 % in five years in the context of a stagnant economy. SWDE believes that water must not be permitted to become a luxury and th-erefore devotes most of its efforts to keeping its opera-ting costs under control while maintaining an ambitious level of investment.

THE PARADOX OF DECLINING HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION

Taken individually, the measures considered by house-holds in Wallonia to reduce their water consumption (including the use of rainwater tanks) can have a “posi-tive” impact on the final amount of their own bills. But the effect is short-lived, as this legitimate propensity to endeavour to save inevitably prompts an increase in the price per m3. Hence the paradox: the more consumption falls (cf. diagram on average consumption), the more ra-tes rise, because 80 % of the charges involved when pro-ducing and distributing water are fixed.

This irreversible trend is apparently heightening the pressure on public water cycle operators, forcing them to keep their operating costs under control if they are to prevent a rates explosion.

AVERAGE CONSUMPTION PER HOUSEHOLD: 96,27 m3 (98,62 m3 IN 2012)

m3 m3 m3 m3 m3

2005 2007 2009 2011 2013

108,4 104,9 102,3 100,8 96,27

POPULATION SUPPLIED

2,421,650 customers

METERS IN OPERATION

1,042,690

KEEPING THE PRICE OF WATER UNDER CONTROL LIES AT THE HEART OF THE SWDE STRATEGY

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MOBILE GIS IS IMPROVING KNOWLEDGE OF OUR UNDERGROUND INFRASTRUCTURE

The geographic information system (GIS) used by the SWDE design offices has undergone major technologi-cal progress thanks to the use of portable IT terminals by staff working in the field. The touch tablets used with this “mobile GIS” offer a number of benefits, inclu-ding the fact that it is now easier to consult network plans immediately, anywhere in the region, thanks to an integrated GPS. These plans can now be read on a computer screen, rather than on an unfolded sheet of paper. The seventy or so foremen who have been given these tablets can also use the new computing tools to improve the plans, making them more precise and thus adding substantially to the GIS database ■

A FIRST STEP TOWARDS THE “ZERO PAPER” OPTION IN COMMERCIAL CORRESPONDENCE

The dematerialization of administrative documents be-gan successfully in the middle of 2013. All commercial correspondence goes through a single post-office box in Nivelles. It is scanned and then sent to SWDE by com-puter. It is incorporated into an integrated management software program in the form of a customer contact lin-ked to the electronic copy of the item. Thanks to efficient reporting, it is now possible to follow the correspondence processing period.

The next stage is the dematerialization of customer in-voices. In particular, this involves activating the Zoomit functionalities, that is the possibility for customers to receive their invoices by e-mail or in electronic format ■

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AT SWDE DEVELOPS RAPIDLY WITH THE IMHOTEP PROJECT

Wallonia has granted financing of € 700,000 to the SWDE labo-ratory in Fleurus to develop the research programme known as IMHOTEP (Inventaire des Matières Hormonales et Organiques en Traces dans les Eaux Patrimoniales et Potabilisables – Inventory of hormone and organic trace elements in water under patrimo-nial management and water that can be rendered drinkable). The aim is to perfect an innovative method of detecting medication residues in water. SWDE will shortly be capable of mapping out these substances, determining the origin of the pollutants, as-sessing the level of toxicity or developing means of eliminating them. The programme started in 2013 and is to last three years.

SWDE is also working on other projects as an “industrial sponsor”. These include SENSPORT in conjunction with the Ecole Royale Mi-litaire (Royal Military Academy) on the use of radar technology to detect leaks, and AQUAQUAL, which is developing a molecular biology tool to monitor bacteria and viruses in water ■

50

250

150

350

100

300

200

400

450

450

2005 20072006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

in €

TREND IN THE AMOUNT OF THE AVERAGE INVOICE (2005-2013)

Social fund and taxes receipts (constant price 2005)

Part related to sanitation (constant price 2005)

Part related to distribution (constant price 2005)

Amount of the average invoice

PRODUCED VOLUME167,937,679

m3

DISTRIBUTEDVOLUME100,379,149

m3

FULL-TIME EQUIVALENTS

1,401 (based on40 hours/week)LINEAR INDEX

OF UNMETEREDVOLUMES

5.18 m3/J/km

ANALYSESCONFORMITY RATE

99.80%NUMBER OF ANALYSES

103,091

HOURS’TRAINING/STAFF MEMBER

21.53 hours

KEEPING THE PRICE OF WATER UNDER CONTROL LIES AT THE HEART OF THE SWDE STRATEGY

The complete 2013 annual report is available on www.swde.be/2013annualreport

MUNICIPALITIES SUPPLIED

SIGNIFICANT FACTS AND FIGURES 2013

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TOTAL ASSETS

€ 1,842,372,000

TURNOVER

424,951,000

OPERATING RESULT 3,672

FINANCIAL RESULT -8,975

EXTRAORDINARY RESULT 627

INCOME TAXES 1,768

NET RESULT -6,444IN T

HO

US

AN

DS

OF €

NET CURRENT ASSETS / TOTAL ASSETS4.30%

GROSS VALUE-ADDED€ 220,925,000

OPERATIVE CASHFLOW€ 82,391,000

GROSS VALUE-ADDED / TURNOVER

51.99%

TURNOVER PER STAFF MEMBER

€ 283,000

TURNOVEREXCLUDING SANITATION

€ 284,414,000

SOLVENCY 69.5 %

UNDERTAKING OF THE 2013 INVESTMENT PROGRAM

€ 77 million

Localisation des secteurs

Bassin Escaut

Bassin Meuse

BREAKDOWN OF THE CAPITAL (SHARES A)(TOTAL SHARE CAPITAL : 1,251,989,450 €

Provinces

Municipalities

Intermunicipalcompanies

Walloon Region / SPGE

Public financing companies

58%4%

29%

8% 1%

75 millions

20 millions

2,5 millions

2,5 millions

25 millions