2027-2029 Strategy:
Arcadis’ Reset: Focused Growth, Sustainable Value
- Arcadis’ Reset: Focused Growth, Sustainable Value strategy is based on three value creation principles: Focus on Strengths, Simplify around Clients and Drive Performance Culture; all enabled by AI and digital innovation.
- Divestment of the majority of the architecture business and China operations to accelerate value creation, expected to increase the operating EBITDA margin by ~100 basis points1).
- Reduction of ~1,000 FTEs as part of overhead rightsizing targeted in 2027, with continued hiring in growth areas.
- 2027–2029 financial targets:
- Mid-single-digit organic net revenue growth;
- Mid- to high-teens operating EBITDA margin;
- Dividend payout ratio of 30–40% of net income from operations;
- Net debt / operating EBITDA of 1.5–2.5x.
- 2026 Financial guidance reaffirmed: low-single-digit organic net revenue growth, operating EBITA margin of 11.7–12.0%, equivalent to an operating EBITDA margin of 14.3–14.6%.
- Non-financial targets set for 2027-2029 include: client satisfaction, Employee Net Promotor Score, safety improvement, and quantified material impact on sustainability through the Future IMPACT+ framework by 2035.
Amsterdam, 29 September 2026: Arcadis (EURONEXT: ARCAD), the leading global provider of data-driven sustainable design, engineering and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets, is hosting its Capital Markets Day in Amsterdam today to present its 2027–2029 strategy.
Heather Polinsky, Chief Executive Officer, said: “Arcadis’ Reset: Focused Growth, Sustainable Value sharpens our focus on the markets where demand is strongest, and our competitive differentiation is clear. Our people and our culture are what makes this possible, and our work addressing the world’s most complex infrastructure and environmental challenges is what makes it matter. We will invest in our Core and Accelerate industries, apply rigorous performance discipline to Optimize businesses, simplify the organization around clients and strengthen accountability. Combined with our leading market positions, specialist expertise and trusted client relationships, these actions are designed to translate our strategic strengths into stronger growth, higher margins and cash generation. We are building a more focused, higher-performing Arcadis that delivers sustainable value for shareholders, our people and our clients.”
Simon Crowe, Chief Financial Officer, said: “The financial rationale is compelling: a more focused portfolio, a structurally lower cost base and disciplined capital allocation will support higher margins, stronger cash generation and sustainable shareholder returns. The announced divestments are expected to increase the operating EBITDA margin by ~100 basis points1). Beyond this, we will improve win rates, drive billability and apply more targeted sales incentives and differentiated pricing. With most of our key clients currently taking only one of our six services, the cross-selling opportunity is significant.
We will also pursue disciplined bolt-on M&A in our Core and Accelerate industries to build out leading positions and scale in high-growth markets. Together, these actions give us a clear and structured path to a mid-to-high teens operating EBITDA margin by 2029 and we will assess share buybacks from excess cash following each full-year result. With our capital-light model and strong cash-generation potential, we see a clear pathway to more than double EBITDA over time.”
ARCADIS’ RESET: FOCUSED GROWTH, SUSTAINABLE VALUE
The strategy is built on three value-creation priorities: focus on strengths, simplify around clients and drive a performance culture, underpinned by AI and digital innovation.
FOCUS ON STRENGTHS
Arcadis is actively changing its portfolio, concentrating investment in the sectors and growth markets where its expertise is most recognized by clients and where structural demand is strongest.
- Core
- Where Arcadis holds strong leading positions in structurally growing markets
- Includes industries Transportation and Energy & Water, 53% of net revenues1)
- Organic net revenue growth profile of mid to high single digit for Transportation, high single digit for Energy & Water
- Accelerate
- Where Arcadis is scaling rapidly in high-growth sectors, including data centers, life sciences, and semiconductors
- Includes industries Industrial Manufacturing & Technology, 21% of net revenues
- Organic net revenue growth profile of mid to high single digit
- Optimize
- Where Arcadis is applying strict margin discipline and divesting non-core assets, including the majority of the Architecture business and China operations
- Includes Real Estate & Development industry, 26% of net revenues
Arcadis expects the share of Core and Accelerate industries to grow from 74%1) to 85% of Total Net Revenues by 2029, improving the overall quality and profitability of the business.
Environmental services, a leading business representing approximately 20% of net revenues built over 138 years of industry leadership, will be scaled by embedding across all four industries.
SIMPLIFY AROUND CLIENTS
Arcadis is replacing its Global Business Area structure with a model in which profit and loss accountability follows the client, not the person. Account teams will bring together sales and delivery under one accountable team per account, eliminating duplication, speeding up decision-making and enabling more consistent, end-to-end service. A single global services and delivery business, with real-time visibility of talent and skills across the organisation, replaces the current more fragmented model. Continued growth of Arcadis’ Global Excellence Centers will improve consistency, speed and cost efficiency. AI, automation and standardisation will release capacity for higher-value work.
DRIVE PERFORMANCE CULTURE
Arcadis’ people-first culture is embedded in its ownership model. Building on this principle, Arcadis is building a high-performance culture that is clearer and more focused on impact, through performance-linked incentives, clear ownership of client satisfaction, growth and margins. More than 200 leaders were already appointed in 2026 to create a simpler, flatter and more agile business. The Lovinklaan Foundation, Arcadis’ largest shareholder, reinvests dividends in knowledge exchange, innovation and professional development, giving Arcadians a long-term stake in the company’s success. Combined, this will make Arcadis’ performance culture a direct driver of growth, margin and client impact.
EMBED AI AND DIGITAL
Arcadis is embedding AI and digital directly into how it delivers projects, wins work and operates the business. This is already creating value for clients across sectors, improving productivity, quality and outcomes. Arcadis focuses on structured data, partnerships, in-house capability and disciplined scaling to ensure the best ideas reach clients consistently and globally. Its new partnership with Autodesk is one example of how Arcadis embeds AI directly into the workflows, combining technology with Arcadis’ own data, knowledge and engineering expertise. In addition we see strong AI implementation, resulting from working with Nomic, Arcadis’ AI partner purpose-built for engineering. More than 400 engineers across 17 countries now use over 700 engineer-built workflows to analyze drawings, specifications and process complex project information. Both examples highlight AI in action, creating value.
NON-FINANCIAL TARGETS
The strategy is also underpinned by non-financial commitments. Arcadis has set the following non-financial targets for the 2027-2029 cycle:
- Client satisfaction score of 85% or above by 2029;
- Employee Net Promoter Score in the top quartile of the professional services sector;
- 30% improvement in recordable safety incidents and proactive safety behaviours by 2029;
- €100 Billion of client project construction value assessed annually through its Future IMPACT+ sustainability framework by 2035.
1) Based on 2025 full year results
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ARCADIS INVESTOR RELATIONS
Christine Disch | +31 (0)615376020 | christine.disch@arcadis.com
Investor calendar: https://www.arcadis.com/en/investors/investor-calendar
CAPITAL MARKETS DAY WEBCAST
Today at 14:00 CET: Capital Markets Day 2026 | General | Arcadis
ABOUT ARCADIS
Arcadis is the world’s leading company delivering data-driven sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets. We are around 34,000 architects, data analysts, designers, engineers, project planners, water management and sustainability experts, all driven by our passion for improving quality of life. As part of our commitment to accelerating a planet positive future, we work with our clients to make sustainable project choices, combining digital and human innovation, and embracing future-focused skills across the environment, energy and water, buildings, transport, and infrastructure sectors. We operate in over 30 countries and reported €5 billion in gross revenues for 2025. www.arcadis.com
REGULATED INFORMATION
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