Public Equity Monitor
Investments doubled — implications for financing, dividend policy and public shareholders
Deloitte analysed the 45 largest publicly owned companies in the Netherlands and finds that investments in fixed assets have more then doubled in the past 3 years (2024: €21.6bn, roughly 20% of all corporate investment). This growth, largely driven by social challenges such as the energy transition, result in a declining solvency of these companies — a significant tension for public shareholders.
This is an analysis of 45 publicly owned companies in the Netherlands and their investment behaviour; the publication highlights the sharp rise in investments, stable dividend distributions and the implications for solvency and shareholders’ decision‑making.
Investments by publicly owned companies have more than doubled in three years.
Financing pressure and choices for public shareholders
Between 2019 and 2024 investments by publicly owned companies increased substantially; in 2024 they amounted to €21.6bn (around 20% of all corporate investment) and over the past three years these investments have more than doubled — while distributed dividends remained around €1bn per year and solvency fell from roughly 35% to 30%. This forces public shareholders to consider choices between maintaining dividend levels, taking on additional debt or providing capital injections.
