The document provides an analysis of the business center market in Belgium in 2012. It includes the following key points: 1) There were approximately 137 business centers in Belgium, with around 45% being stand-alone centers and the rest owned by groups. The largest numbers were located in Brussels, Antwerp, and Gent. 2) The estimated total turnover of the Belgian business center market was around 70 million Euros. Brussels led the market with around 40 million in turnover. 3) In terms of financial data, the three regions of Brussels, Flanders, and Wallonia generated similar added value figures but had different characteristics in terms of assets, cash positions, equity, and debts. 4)

1. The power of professional financial management
DRAFT VERSION – FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY
BUSINESS CENTER MARKET IN BELGIUM
MARKET ANALYSIS 2012
Hasselt, 2012-09-20
fin POWER Laurent Andrianne & Koen Batsleer

2. INTRODUCTION
I. Business centers in Belgium
I. Number of business centers
II. Business Centers by location
III. Business Centers by situation
II. Financial data of Business Centers market
I. Turnover (Estimated)
II. Added value
III. Fixed assets
IV. Cash Positions
V. Equity
VI. Financial debts
VII. Remuneration costs
VIII. Operational profits
IX. Net income after taxes
X. Operational profits comparison with NIAT

3. INTRODUCTION
“Definitions and limitations”
 Business centers in Belgium :
 See list in annex
 Research by a maximum of means
 Growing market  if you know new centers, please let me now.
 What is a business center ?
 Uses this as name of his business
 Including ‘bedrijvencentra’, excluding ‘innovation centers’/incubation centers
 For profit, registered company
 Serviced offices = full time reception services
 Used figures :
 Published financial data (Bel First & NBB)

4. I. BUSINESS CENTERS IN BELGIUM
1.1. Number of Business Centers
Amount of Business Centers owned by groups  Total appr. 137 business centers in Belgium :
Geen Groep  28 ‘BC’s’, bedrijvencentra
Bedrijvencentrum
 10 Regus
Regus
Microbizz  5 NCI/Multiburo
Multiburo
 12 groups with 2-4 centers
VIP Offices
Design/Innovatiecentrum  5 groups with a single center
Taminiau  60 ‘individual business center owners
The Crescent/Leasinvest
Officenter
Liege Business Center  In 2011 : ca. 120 BC, which means an annual
MC Square growth of appr. 10 %.
Silver Square  P.S. April 2012 : bankruptcy of Microbizz
Burogest
Double Digit
 Listing is not ‘clear-cut’
Servcorp
Parkoffice  No innovation/incubation-centers
Heylen2
 No ‘co-working-spaces’
Lokabox
Halldis  No Incubation/Innovation centers
Add business point
Ateac
In Belgium, we observe appr. 137 business centers of which
around 45 % are stand-alone centers.

5. I. BUSINESS CENTERS IN BELGIUM
1.2 Business centers by location
 60 % of Belgium’s business centers are
Largest cities (rank by population) Amount located in Brussels, Antwerp en Gent
Brussel 57
 41 % located in Brussels
Antwerpen 16
Gent 9  12 % located in Antwerp
Charleroi 2  7 % located in Gent
Luik 4
Brugge 1
 The biggest city of Wallonia, Liege, has only 4
Namen 2 business centers.
Leuven 1
 Bruges and Leuven, two active cities in
Bergen 0 Flanders only have a single business center
Mechelen 0 Brussel Antwerpen Gent Luik each.
Total 92 Namen Charleroi Leuven Brugge
2/3th of all business centers in Belgium
are located in these main cities

6. I. BUSINESS CENTERS IN BELGIUM
1.3. Business centers by situation
 Business Centers are well distributed
inside the cities
Situation Amount  Only 1 on 3 business centers is located
Center 53 in the centre of the cities
Industrial area 33 35%
39%
Airport 3
 Appr. 33 business centers are located in
Surroundings 47 an industrial surrounding, normally not
Total 136 suited for this purpose.
Center
Industrial area
 Airways and highways only attract a
2% Airport
24% minority of business centers
Surroundings
Business Center in Belgium are situated for approx. 1/3 in the
Center of the cities, 1/3 in the industrial areas and 1/3 in the
suburban areas

7. II. FINANCIAL DATA OF BUSINESS CENTER MARKET
2.1. Turnover estimation
• Significant differences between
Total Turnover regions
45,000 – Brussels leads the market offering an
40,000 average of 40M turnover, 65 % of
the market.
35,000
– Beside the capital city , Flanders is
30,000 the most dynamic market with a
25,000
turnover reaching 25M in 2011
– Wallonia is the smallest market.
20,000
• Growth rhythm
15,000
– Brussels market seems to have come
10,000 to maturity and is stable since 2009,
5,000 also influenced by the diminishing
prices in this competitive region
0
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
– The total turnover of Flanders was
stable form 2000 – 2006 and has
Wallonië Vlaanderen Brussels since then a average annual growth
of 5 %
– Wallonia is the fastest growing
market, with a yearly growth of 9%
since 2000.

8. II. FINANCIAL DATA OF BUSINESS CENTER MARKET
2.1. Turnover estimation
80,000
70,000
• Market approximates 70M €
60,000 – No growth from 2000 to 2006
50,000
Brussels – Nice growth of 16 % in 2007
40,000
30,000 Vlaanderen – Marginal decreasing growth since
20,000 Wallonië then
10,000
0
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 • Average turnover per center
– A ‘normal’ business center has a
1,200
turnover of less then 400 k€
1,000
– ‘International’ business centers
800 Gemiddelde
realize a turnover of more then 1
600 Wallonië
Mio per center.
400 Vlaanderen
200 Brussels
0
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
The market still has potential but relies much on economical situation

9. II. FINANCIAL DATA OF BUSINESS CENTER MARKET
2.1. Added Value
• More representative than the
expected turnover
Total Added Value • Figures taken from 37
14,000 observations in Brussels, 41 in
Flanders and 11 in Wallonia
12,000
• In terms of Added Value, Flanders
10,000
and Brussels generate very similar
8,000 figures except in 2006 and 2009
due to the influence of one BC.
6,000
• Growth rhythm remains constant
4,000
but low for Brussels and Flanders
2,000 and high for Wallonia
– Brussels : +43% over 2002-2011
0 (+3.7%/Y)
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 – Flanders : +36% over 10 years
(Prev)
(+3.7%/Y)
Wallonië Vlaanderen Brussels – Wallonia : +195% over 10 years
(+11.4%/Y)

10. II. FINANCIAL DATA OF BUSINESS CENTER MARKET
2.3. Fixed assets (Material fixed assets)
Total Fixed Assets • Stagnation in Flanders between
60,000
2002 and 2006 followed by a
50,000 significant growth (new arrivals
and investments).
40,000
• International BC do not own the
30,000 buildings they operate in and
many operate in Brussels.
20,000
• Brussels : market at maturity,
10,000 few arrivals in 10 years and even
0
a decrease in fixed assets.
• Wallonia : Stagnation between
2002 and 2004 followed by a
Wallonië Vlaanderen Brussels
sustained growth (new arrivals
and investments)
The three different regions should be considered differently

11. II. FINANCIAL DATA OF BUSINESS CENTER MARKET
2.3. Fixed assets (Material fixed assets)
90,000
80,000 • Constant growth in fixed assets
70,000
60,000 since 2004 due to new arrivals
50,000
40,000 Brussels on the market and investments
30,000
20,000 Vlaanderen for technological requirements.
10,000 Wallonië
0
• Second graph (average fixed
assets) :
- Slight decrease in fixed assets
2,000 in Brussels
1,500 - Small expansion for Flanders.
1,000 - Constant and strong increase
500 for Wallonia
0
Gemiddelde Wallonië Vlaanderen Brussels

12. II. FINANCIAL DATA OF BUSINESS CENTER MARKET
2.3. Cash positions
Total Cash Positions • In total, all Belgian business
25,000
20,000
centers have more then 20 Mio
15,000 € in cash deposits.
10,000 Brussels
5,000 Vlaanderen
0
Wallonië • The most cash is available in
Flanders, were 15 Mio cash is
‘uninvested’, in reference with
16,000 appr. 50 Mio which is invested in
14,000
12,000 fixed assets.
10,000
8,000 – 80 % of the cash – deposits are
Wallonië
6,000 owned by business centers which
4,000 Vlaanderen are publicly owned.
2,000
Brussels
0
Globally, total cash positions show a constant growth

13. II. FINANCIAL DATA OF BUSINESS CENTER MARKET
2.4. Equity
• The market is distinctly different in
60,000 each region
– Brussels : Equity decrease between
50,000 2002 and 2007 and increase
afterwards.
40,000 2006 and 2007 badly impacted by
Microbizz and Servcorp negative
30,000
Brussels equity
Vlaanderen – Flanders and Wallonia : Equity in
20,000 Wallonië constant and modest rise between
2002 and 2006.
10,000
Sustained growth starting from
2007 up to now.
0
– Wallonia : 2011 strongly impacted
-10,000
by a gain on reevaluation of
Lokabox’s fixed assets.
Wallonia and Brussels are influenced by negative figure of few
important companies which impact strongly their total equity result

14. II. FINANCIAL DATA OF BUSINESS CENTER MARKET
2.5. Financial debts
• The three regions have a different
financing debts progression :
Total Financial Debts
40,000
35,000 – Brussels has decreasing financial debts,
30,000
25,000
with a large diminishing in 2008.
20,000
Brussels
15,000
10,000 Vlaanderen – At the opposite, Flemish Fin. Debts,
5,000
0
Wallonië which are very close to Brussels’ until
2007, observe an increasing trend after
this date.
18,000 – In Wallonia, the BC are largely financed
16,000
14,000 by debts. The large graphic jumps we
12,000 observe are highly influenced by new
10,000
8,000 Wallonië coming firms, such as B&B in 2005 or
6,000
4,000 Vlaanderen Lokabox and Quadrature in 2008
2,000
0 Brussels

15. II. FINANCIAL DATA OF BUSINESS CENTER MARKET
2.5. Financial debts
• In general, the total financial debts of
Belgian BC market Increase with time
Average Financial Debts • The three ‘business segments’ have a
1,400
different financing structure :
– In Brussels, the international players
1,200
limit their financing and equity by
1,000 renting their buildings. Though, they still
finance more by debts ( D/E ratio > 1 )
800
600
– In Flanders, the market is financially very
400 solid with a D/E ratio (~25%) which
involves a 4€ equity for 1€ debt
200
financing
0
– The Walloon market is hard to analyze
Gemiddelde Wallonië Vlaanderen Brussels due to the small size of sample.
However, it has globally a very high D/E
ratio.
The financing structure of the different players in the market is very
different.

16. II. FINANCIAL DATA OF BUSINESS CENTER MARKET
2.6. Remuneration Costs
• Total Remuneration costs are quite
Total Remuneration Costs stable for the BC market (the big jump
14,000
of 2009 is only the impact of 1 BC in
Brussels), with a very small increasing
12,000 trend :
10,000 - Average costs follow the same trend
8,000 - In Wallonia, we notice a relative constant
increase in total as well as average costs
Brussels
6,000
Vlaanderen
4,000 Wallonië • The amount of workers is directly linked
2,000
with the social costs :
- Wallonia shows an increasing average of 4 to
0 5 employees per BC in ten years
- Brussels and Flanders show a constant
amount of respectively 3 and 2 employees per
BC
Semi-public initiatives, mainly located in Flanders, are relatively smaller
than the private and international business centers

17. II. FINANCIAL DATA OF BUSINESS CENTER MARKET
2.6. Operational profits
• The different actors of the market
present totally different operational
Total Operational Profits profitability :
– After having made loss during the 5
2,500
first years, International BC (thus
Brussels) were very profitable for the
1,500 last 4 years with a peak in 2009
– The Operational profits remain very
500
Wallonië limited for Wallonia and Flanders
Vlaanderen during the whole period (not for
Brussels
profits organizations ?)
-500
• About 45% firms made operational
-1,500
profits during the 5 first years
while 55% do for the 5 last years,
-2,500 certainly influenced by Brussels
international BC.
1 out of 2 business centers do not make an operational profit !

18. II. FINANCIAL DATA OF BUSINESS CENTER MARKET
2.6. Net income after taxes
Total NIAT • Until 2007, profits were relatively
8,000
limited. In 2008 and 2009, Belgian BC
market shows great figures mainly due
6,000 to the Brussels market. 2010 and 2011
follow again with negative profitability
4,000 for the Belgian BC market.
2,000
• Brussels’ profitability is very influenced
Brussels
by the evolution of its 2 main players.
Vlaanderen
0
Wallonië
• BC net income in Flanders show a good
increase during the 7 first years but
-2,000
strongly diminish after the peak of 2008
-4,000
and are even negative for the last year
• Wallonia shows small positive results for
2003, 2004 and 2006. A increasing
negative trend follows afterwards.

19. II. FINANCIAL DATA OF BUSINESS CENTER MARKET
2.6. Net income after taxes comparison
• We can observe quite logically a
similar general trend
• In terms of % of the sample with
80% positive results, the NIAT are always
70%
higher, except for the last year
60%
50% • Between 2006 and 2008 (just
40% before the crisis), we observe a
30%
large difference among the O.P. and
20%
10%
NIAT % of positive results. The main
2002 2003
0% difference is certainly due to the
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
financial results
2011
Operational Profits
NIAT

20. Conclusions
• The business center market has not grown in 2009, 2010 nor in
2011
– After double digit growth in 2007 and 2008.
– Average growth of 6% per year for the last 5 years (identical for the 3 regions)
• The 3 regional markets are different:
– Brussels is mainly dominated by international players who rent their
buildings (thus have small investments) and are profitable
– Wallonia is mainly dominated by private players which have high financial
debts figures. Combined with low operating profits, this generates in general
negative results.
– In Flanders, there are a lot of semi-public initiatives which have more cash
than debts. Their limited operational profits are positively influenced by the
financial income.