The week to come: Van Hool, Brussels Airport and the Tour of Flanders

Will Van Hool go bankrupt, will Brussels Airport succeed in obtaining a new environmental permit and can Wout Van Aert finally win the Tour of Flanders? You will find out this week.

Can Van Hool’s bankruptcy still be avoided?

It could well be that the curtain will fall on bus builder Van Hool this week. Last week it became clear that the banks are not prepared to rescue the ailing bus builder. Even if the family feud between the different branches of the family is resolved, bankruptcy may not be avoided. The future of the 2,500 Van Hool employees in Koningshooikt looks very uncertain.

By Friday, Flemish Environment Minister Zuhal Demir (N-VA) must decide whether Brussels Airport will receive an environmental permit for ten years. An important question is which conditions Brussels Airport will have to adhere to. The Regional Environmental Permit Committee (GOVC) proposed a ceiling on the number of night flights in its advice. Brussels Airport does not like that, because it would jeopardize air freight.

The US Commerce Department will publish inflation figures on Friday according to the central bank’s (Fed) preferred benchmark. Economists expect inflation to have risen slightly to 2.5 percent in February, compared to 2.4 percent in January. Core inflation, excluding food and energy, may have remained stable at 2.8 percent. Although inflation remains higher than the 2 percent target, Fed officials reiterated Wednesday that they may cut rates three times this year.

Traditionally, many companies release annual figures in the last week of March, such as Exmar (Tuesday), Tessenderlo (Wednesday), Fluxys Belgium (Thursday) and Floridienne (Friday).

The National Bank will publish its annual figures after trading hours on Wednesday. The loss will probably be a multiple of that of 2022 (580 million euros). The figures turn deep red because interest costs are rising much faster than interest income. The interest on the more than 200 billion euros in cash surpluses that the banks park at the National Bank is linked to the sharply increased policy interest rate of the European Central Bank. Despite the large loss, the National Bank will probably pay out a gross dividend of 1.5 euros, just like last year.

Sofina will present its full annual figures on Thursday evening. The holding company announced in January that the intrinsic value fell by 3.2 percent last year to 277 euros per share. But almost half of the portfolio consists of private funds and no value was yet known at the end of 2023. Sofina will also announce its dividend. Last year the holding company paid out 3.24 euros gross, the 46th increase in a row.

The 106th Tour of Flanders will take place on Sunday, March 31. It remains to be seen whether favorite Wout Van Aert can finally put Flanders’ most beautiful to his name. His eternal competitor – Mathieu van der Poel – is also present. Tadej Pogacar is not there.

After a thorough three-year renovation, the Permeke Museum in Jabbeke will reopen on Friday. The museum is located in the modernist house that the artist had built at the end of the 1920s. Constant Permeke is one of the most important Belgian painters of the first half of the 20th century^ste century.