Precious Woods
| Precious Woods Holding AG
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|---|---|
 |
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| legal form | Corporation |
| ISIN | CH0013283368 |
| founding | 1990 |
| Seat | Zug , Switzerland |
| management | Katharina Lehmann ( Chairman of the Board of Directors ) Markus Brütsch ( CEO and CFO ) |
| Number of employees | 1,400 (2018) |
| sales | EUR 46.3 million (2018) |
| Branch | Timber industry |
| Website | www.preciouswoods.com |
The Precious Woods Holding AG , based in train and a branch office in Zurich is a Founded in 1990, Swiss Holding -Gesellschaft which in the international timber industry is active and for the concept of sustainable forest management in the tropical rainforests of South America and Africa begins.
From March 18, 2002 to August 9, 2013 Precious Woods Holding AG was listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange . From August 12, 2013, the shares will be traded on the Zürcher Kantonalbank's OTC trading platform .
The tropical wood harvested by Precious Woods in the rainforest is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
Forest management concept
The basic idea behind Precious Woods is brought by its motto expressed: "The best way to protect tropical forests is to use this term." . This principle represents nothing other than the transfer of the principles of sustainable forest management already common in Europe to the overexploited forests of South America and Africa. A three-pronged strategy of bringing together economic, social and ecological interests is pursued. The aim of this is to show an alternative form of rainforest management and to prove its profitability despite ecological and social compatibility.
Various methods are used to achieve these goals:
- Processing of the wood on site by local and well-trained personnel, which creates local jobs and minimizes secondary damage to the forest, for example due to inadequate felling techniques or unselective wood removal.
- Creation of forest management plans by recording data and mapping individual trees and the tree selection that is possible with it to determine a harvesting process.
- Selective wood removal through directional felling and consideration of qualitative and ecological factors.
- Use of light machines to protect the forest floor.
- Balance between wood harvesting and afforestation with accompanying ecological research, avoiding monocultures and preserving forest areas in their almost natural form with the least possible intervention.
- Refraining from using certain areas around watercourses, banks and other designated protection zones with a total extent of around 25% of the entire forest area.
- No management of the forest areas used by indigenous peoples.
- Reforestation of previously cleared forest areas and thereby restoration of a diverse forest ecosystem.
History and corporate structure in transition
- Costa Rica : The company originally started in 1990 by reforesting pastureland in Costa Rica, Central America. The activities were financed by a few investors who were aware of the long-term nature of the investment in newly reforested forests.
- Brazil : In 1994 Precious Woods acquired land ownership rights in the existing jungle in the Itacoatiara area near Manaus in the Amazon region , where the first sustainable forestry operation in Amazonia was established, which has been FSC-certified since 1997. Part of the considerations was to be able to generate income more quickly than in Costa Rica. Processing companies for sawn timber, veneers and finished products emerged. An additional business is the sale of emission certificates . The sawdust was used in the own biomass power plant BK Energia to generate electricity. As a result of a restructuring, the previous majority stake in this power plant was converted into a minority position of 40%.
- In 2001, Precious Woods and A. van den Berg BV, the Netherlands, founded a joint subsidiary in Pará and Belém, Brazil . In contrast to Itacoatiara, these were forest concessions, which later turned out to be highly controversial. After major losses, government regulations and legal proceedings, Precious Woods gave up these activities in 2008.
- Nicaragua : As a further activity in Central America, afforestation operations were expanded in this country from 2003 onwards. In 2011 and 2012, however, as part of a restructuring process, the subsidiaries in Costa Rica and Nicaragua were sold to two previous Swiss shareholders. In contrast to Para in Brazil, these were relatively successful businesses with valuable trees.
- Europe : The initial partner company A. van den Berg BV, Nieuwerbrug, Netherlands, as the largest customer in Europe, was completely taken over in 2005 and continued to operate as Precious Woods Europe BV . This location served as a storage and distribution center for tropical timber in Europe. Services such as advice on types of tropical wood and their use as well as wood processing were offered.
- Gabon : In 2007 Precious Woods entered forestry in the tropical belt of Africa for the first time by acquiring majority stakes in the long-standing companies Compagnie Equatoriale des Bois (CEB) and Tropical Gabon Industrie (TGI) . A concession area of around 674,000 hectares in Eastern Gabon, Central Africa, is cultivated with 872 employees. Due to a lack of infrastructure and government regulations, Precious Woods created accommodation, drinking water and electricity supplies as well as basic medical care for the employees and their families.
- A sawmill had existed in Gabon since 1947 and the predecessor companies had operated a Fournier since 1999. When the state of Gabon decreed that only processed wood could be exported, these plants gained in importance. The entire value chain has been FSC certified since 2009. In the 2018 financial year, around 2/3 of total sales were generated from Gabon.
- Europe : The operating activities of the subsidiary Precious Woods Europe BV were discontinued after the warehouse sale in the course of 2013 and resulted in special costs of USD 8 million . In the 2013, 2014 and 2015 financial years, Precious Woods made a net loss, which also reduced equity.
Course of business
After years of losses and disappointments, the company successfully refinanced in 2012/2013. Precious Woods shows that a relatively small, idealistic company in developing countries is exposed to unexpected risks such as legal uncertainty and changing state interventions. It remains to be proven that such an international forest company can achieve sustainability combined with good, steady earnings.
Convertible loans fell due in December 2014 . The creditors have converted their loans into shares.
A capital increase took place in June 2016, which led to an increase in the share capital to CHF 6.8 million, consisting of 6.8 million registered shares of CHF 1 each. This increase resulted in gross proceeds of CHF 4.3 million.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Management Report 2018
- ↑ Annual Report 2015
- ↑ Marc Iseli and Marc Badertscher: Return to the parquet. In: Handelszeitung, June 9, 2016, p. 4
- ↑ The FuW Morning Report. Finanz & Wirtschaft, June 29, 2016