A pivotal year
in an unprecedented crisis environment
- Net Asset Value up 0.7%, significantly outperforming the Stoxx Europe 50 (- 8.7%)
- Solid financial position, supporting EUR 1.5 billion in investments
- Consolidated net result and cash earnings in decline, impacted by the pandemic
- Acceleration of share buybacks
- Proposeddividend of EUR 2.50 per share, equating to an attractive yield of 3.0%1
- Simplification of shareholding structure and free float increase from 50% to 72%
- Assignment of credit ratings of A+ / A1 from S&P and Moody’s
Ian Gallienne, CEO of GBL commented, “The challenges of 2020 are like no others in recent generations. Despite
the pandemic’s impact on our net result and cash earnings, the increase in our net asset value underscores the agility
and resilience of our portfolio companies. Our strong financial position has enabled us to continue to move our
strategy forward. This year tested our own resilience, and I am confident that the steps we have taken will allow us
to better navigate the economic recovery and the years to come. We will continue to capitalize on our origination
capabilities to build a diversified and quality portfolio in order to generate over time an attractive total return for our
shareholders.”
Key financial data2
EUR million End of December Variation EUR p.s. 3
(Group share) 2020 2019 2020/2019 2020 2019
Consolidated net result 391 705 - 44.5% 2.53 4.48
Cash earnings 440 595 - 26.1% 2.72 3.69
Dividend 396 4 508 - 22.1% 2.50 5 3.15
Net asset value 20,498 20,349 + 0.7% 127.03 126.11
Market capitalisation 13,315 15,161 - 12.2% 82.52 93.96
Discount 35.0% 25.5% + 9.5%
Net investments /
(divestments) 1,433 6 (543) 7 1,976
Net cash / (Net debt) (1,563) (768) (795)
Loan to Value 7.3% 3.7% 3.6%

1 Based on GBL’s share price of EUR 82.52 at end 2020
2Alternative performance indicators are defined in the glossary available on GBL’s website : http://www.gbl.be/en/glossary
3 Calculation per share based on the number of shares issued as of December 31, 2020 (161.4 million), except for the net result per share which refers, in accordance
with IFRS, to the weighted average number of shares (154.4 million in 2020)
4 Subject to approval at GBL’s General Shareholders’ Meeting on April 27, 2021
5Amount calculated based on the number of dividend-entitled shares
6 Excluding forward sales of Total shares exercised in 2019 and having matured in January 2020
7 Including forward sales of Total shares exercised in 2019 and having matured in January 2020

Attractive total shareholder return, outperforming the Stoxx Europe 50
Over the course of this unprecedented year, GBL’s net asset value significantly outperformed the
Stoxx Europe 50 (+ 0.7% vs. - 8.7%), driven by the resilience and vigilance of our portfolio companies. We remain
convinced that they will exit this crisis stronger and more competitive.
Our commitment to investors to generate an attractive total return by outperforming our reference index over the
long term, through both net asset value growth and a sustainable dividend, remains intact. Since the launch of our
portfolio rebalancing strategy in 2012, we generated at end 2020 a total shareholder return of 9.5% vs. 7.3% for the
Stoxx Europe 50, and we aim to generate double-digit returns.
In this volatile and uncertain market context, the discount to our net asset value has widened to 35%1, which does
not reflect our fundamentals. We therefore accelerated our share buybacks, completing the second EUR 250 million
tranche and getting authorization in September 2020 for a third EUR 250 million tranche, currently underway.
Solid financial position supporting the execution of our strategy
The pandemic had a significative impact on our financial performance. Cash earnings declined 26% to
EUR 440 million due to a lower dividend contribution from our portfolio companies. The consolidated net result at
end December 2020 declined 45% to EUR 391 million.
However, we maintained in full and distributed a 2020 dividend for the 2019 financial year of EUR 3.15 per share,
representing an attractive yield of 3.4%2. Meanwhile, we pursued our financial discipline and ended the year with a
Loan to Value ratio of 7.3% and a liquidity profile of EUR 2.9 billion, enabling us to continue to seize new investment
opportunities.
We therefore deployed EUR 1.5 billion in capital, primarily behind Sienna Capital and SGS, as well as in new
investment Mowi, the global leader in farmed salmon production, at satisfactory entry points.
Finally, as testament to our solid fundamentals as a long-term and engaged investor, in September 2020 S&P and
Moody’s assigned us A+/A1 credit ratings, positioning us as one of Europe’s highest-rated investment companies.
The success of the placements of the EUR 450 million in bonds exchangeable into GEA shares in October 2020 and
EUR 500 million in institutional bonds executed at efficient terms in early 2021 underscores GBL’s strength as a rated
issuer.
Strengthening of our alternative asset platform and our ESG ambitions
Sienna Capital, our alternative asset platform, recorded a solid performance in 2020, including a
41% increase in net asset value, to EUR 2.5 billion, notably driven by its portfolio exposure, approximately 25% of
which is weighted in technology and digital. Our ambition is to diversify Sienna Capital to manage third party funds,
alongside its own capital. Such diversification should lead to incremental revenue growth by securing ongoing
management fees, while improving operational leverage through a common investment platform.
We also have reinforced our long-term ESG value creation ambitions, notably through the continuation of our climate
commitment and the progressive integration of our thoughts in our investment process by our new Head of ESG.

1. Portfolio rotation, net asset value increase and financial position
evolution
1.1. 2020 Highlights
Listed investments: strengthening our portfolio
Total: In March and April 2019, GBL entered into forward sales related to 15.9 million Total shares (representing 0.60% of the
capital). Those forward sales were executed at an average spot price of EUR 50.52 and an average forward price of EUR 48.37 per
share for a total amount of EUR 771 million. The capital gain generated by these sales amounts to EUR 411 million, not impacting
GBL’s consolidated net result in 2020, in accordance with IFRS 9. At maturity of these sales, on January 24, 2020, GBL’s ownership
in Total has been reduced to 0.01%. GBL continued to receive dividends on the disposed shares until that date.
SGS: On February 4, 2020, GBL participated for an amount of EUR 374 million in the private placement of SGS shares carried
out by the von Finck family at a price of CHF 2,425 per share. GBL’s ownership in SGS’s capital increased from 16.75% at
year-end 2019 to 18.93% following this investment and was valued at EUR 3,539 million as of December 31, 2020.
Mowi: On November 26, 2020, GBL, through its fully-owned subsidiary Owen Capital, crossed the 5.00% holding disclosure
threshold for the shares and voting rights in Mowi ASA (“Mowi”). Based and listed in Norway, Mowi is the world’s largest
producer of Atlantic salmon and was ranked for the second consecutive year as the most sustainable protein producer by the
FAIRR Initiative1. The group has over 14,500 employees and has global reach with a presence in more than 25 countries. In 2020
Mowi generated revenues of EUR 3.8 billion. As of end December 2020, the group had a market capitalization of EUR 9.4 billion,
and GBL held 5.85% of the company valued at EUR 552 million.
Private assets: majority stake in a fast-growing leader
Canyon: On December 15, 2020, GBL announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in
Canyon Bicycles GmbH (“Canyon”), a German company and leader in direct-to-consumer (DTC) distribution of high-end
bicycles. The company is in strong growth, with revenues having nearly doubled over the past three years and now exceeding
EUR 400 million. Canyon is at the crossroads of several structural trends, in line with GBL’s strategic priorities, including health
and wellness, sustainable mobility and online sales. Founder Roman Arnold will remain Chairman of the Advisory Board and
will be joined by GBL representatives including Jean-Pierre Millet and Tony Fadell. Jean-Pierre Millet brings his long experience
in private equity, having led Carlyle Europe for 15 years before founding PrimeStone Capital. Tony Fadell is best known as one
of the creators of the iPod, the founder of Nest and CEO of Future Shape. Tony Fadell brings to Canyon his product development
expertise as well as his passion for cycling and will invest alongside GBL, as will Mr. Millet.
Sienna Capital: dynamic asset rotation
Sagard: In March 2020, Sienna Capital committed EUR 150 million to Sagard’s new fund, Sagard 4 and EUR 50 million to Sagard
NewGen, a fund dedicated to health and technology.
Ceva: In March 2020, Sagard II finalized the disposal of Ceva Santé Animale (“Ceva”) in which it had been a shareholder since
2010. With EUR 1.2 billion of sales in 2019, Ceva has become in a few years one of the worldwide leaders in animal health,
benefiting from sustained organic growth and ambitious M&A. Sienna Capital has reinvested in the group through Sagard 3 and
Sagard 4 which hold a significant stake in the new transaction.
Sienna Capital Opportunity Fund SCSp: As part of its strategic objective to manage external capital, Sienna Capital has set up
Sienna Capital Opportunity Fund SCSp in the second quarter of 2020 and committed EUR 250 million to this fund.

1 Coller FAIRR Protein Producer Index assesses the world’s 60 largest publicly-listed animal protein producers, worth over USD 338 billion combined. Firms are
ranked against 10 environmental, social and governance (ESG)-related criteria such as their climate strategy or the sustainability of sourcing practices within the value chain

C2 Capital: In August 2020, Sienna Capital committed USD 110 million to C2 Capital’s global export-to-China fund, with anchor
investment by the Alibaba Group, which invests mainly in companies focused on the production of consumer goods with a high
export demand potential to China.
Pedro Antonio Arias joined Sienna Capital in September 2020 as CEO. Previously, he created and oversaw since 2013 Amundi’s
platform of “Alternative and Real Assets.” This platform now represents EUR 55 billion in assets under management and
encompasses real estate, private equity, private debt, renewable energy infrastructures and multi-management solutions.
Avanti Acquisition Corp.: On October 2, 2020, Sienna Capital conducted in joint partnership with NNS Group the listing on the
New York Stock Exchange of the Special Purpose Acquisition Company (“SPAC”) Avanti Acquisition Corp. As a result of strong
demand from investors, notably due to the European angle of this investment vehicle, the size of the offer was increased from
USD 500 million to USD 600 million.
Globality: In December 2020, Sienna Capital committed EUR 100 million to the Series E funding of Globality. Based in Silicon
Valley and founded by Joel Hyatt, Globality is the leading smart sourcing platform powered by artificial intelligence in strategic
BtoB services.
Principles for Responsible Investment: Finally, in August 2020, confirming its ambitions for ESG integration, Sienna Capital
became a signatory (www.pri.org).
Credit ratings: recognition for solid fundamentals as a long-term, engaged investor
In September 2020, rating agencies S&P and Moody’s assigned GBL long-term credit ratings of A+ and A1 respectively with
a “stable” outlook.
In October 2020, S&P and Moody’s assigned credit ratings of A+ and A1 respectively to the institutional bonds issued by GBL in
2017 and 2018 and maturing in 2024 and 2025.
Financing: success of EUR 450 million exchangeable bond issuance
On October 1, 2020, GBL (the “Guarantor”) announced the completion of an offering by its fully-owned subsidiary
Oliver Capital of EUR 450 million of bonds (the “Bonds”) exchangeable into existing no-par value ordinary bearer shares of
GEA Group AG (“GEA” or the “Company”) guaranteed by GBL. This issuance initially relates to approximately 11.3 million
GEA shares representing approximately 6.2% of the share capital of the Company and approximately 73.3% of the GEA shares
held directly or indirectly by the Guarantor as of the date of the placement. The Bonds will not bear interest and will mature on
December 29, 2023, except in case of early redemption. The Bonds have been issued at an issue price of 102.00% of their principal
amount and will be redeemed at their principal amount at maturity, corresponding to an annual gross yield to maturity of - 0.61%.
The proceeds of the offering will be used for GBL’s general corporate purposes.
Share buybacks: acceleration in the context of a widening discount
The Board of Directors meeting held on September 19, 2019 authorized a second share buyback program of up to
EUR 250 million. Pursuant to this authorization, GBL has acquired, directly and through its subsidiaries, 3,390,804 GBL shares,
representing 2.10% of the issued capital and valued at EUR 280 million as of December 31, 2020. This buyback tranche has been fully executed.
The Board of Directors meeting held on September 17, 2020 authorized an additional share buyback program of up to
EUR 250 million. This authorization is valid until April 2025. Pursuant to this authorization, GBL has acquired, directly and
through its subsidiaries, 204,064 GBL shares, representing 0.13% of the issued capital and valued at EUR 17 million as of
December 31, 2020. This authorization has been 6.7% executed as of December 31, 2020.

ESG: strengthening our ambitions
In 2020 GBL accelerated the implementation of its ESG ambitions:
- Sharper expertise: François Perrin joined GBL in September 2020 as Head of ESG. He brings more than 25 years of
experience and financial integration in ESG.
- Ongoing climate commitment: GBL was awarded the climate-neutral corporate label in 2020. Moreover, GBL initiated a
three-year program to analyze the climate change impact of its portfolio companies. In this context, three of our portfolio
companies, representing more than 98% of the carbon emissions in GBL’s portfolio, were reviewed in 2020.
- Development of our partner network: GBL became a signatory of the CDP (formerly the “Carbon Disclosure Project”).
- ESG integration: Since 2020, GBL has been licensed and applies the standard proposed by the Sustainability Accounting
Standards Board (SASB Materiality Map® General Issue Categories) and is continuing its ESG integration efforts as, for
example, with the deployment of a proprietary ESG rating tool for any new investment.
- Continuous ratings improvement: A rating with MSCI (vs. BBB in 2019) and 12.9 "low risk" score from Sustainalytics (vs.
13.9 "low risk" in 2019).
Governance: simplification of shareholding structure
In March 2020, our controlling shareholder, Parjointco Switzerland S.A. (itself controlled by Parjointco S.A.), launched a project
to simplify the structure of its GBL holding, offering GBL shares to all Pargesa Holding S.A. minority shareholders ("The Offer"1):
- success of the Offer declared on June 9, 2020;
- de facto control over GBL retained by the Desmarais and Frère family groups (through their Parjointco S.A. control
mechanism) via a holding of 28.23% of GBL’s capital and 43.23% of the voting rights;
- increased free float from 50% to 72% expected to have a positive impact on the liquidity of GBL shares

1.2. Net asset value
As of December 31, 2020, GBL’s net asset value amounts to EUR 20.5 billion (EUR 127.03 per share) compared to
EUR 20.3 billion (EUR 126.11 per share) at year-end 2019, i.e. an increase by 0.7% (EUR 0.92 per share). Relative to the stock price
of EUR 82.52, the discount as of end of December 2020 stands at 35.0%, a 9.5% increase compared to year-end 2019.
December 31, 2020 December 31, 2019
% in
capital
Stock
price 1 (EUR million) % in
capital
Stock
price 1 (EUR million)
Listed and private assets 18,818.5 18,841.6
adidas 6.84 297.90 4,085.6 6.80 289.80 3,951.3
SGS 18.93 2,670 3,539.5 16.75 2,651 3,094.5
Pernod Ricard 7.60 156.80 3,119.2 7.49 159.40 3,170.9
LafargeHolcim 7.57 48.62 2,099.9 7.57 53.70 2,308.2
Imerys 54.64 38.66 1,794.2 53.99 37.68 1,617.2
Umicore 18.02 39.29 1,744.2 17.99 43.36 1,922.3
Webhelp 61.45 1,043.8 64.72 866.7
Mowi 5.85 191.00 551.7 0.84 228.20 100.1
GEA 8.51 29.28 449.7 8.51 29.48 452.7
Ontex 19.98 11.00 181.0 19.98 18.75 308.5
Parques Reunidos 23.00 106.3 23.00 235.3
Total 0.01 35.30 9.4 0.62 49.20 797.6
Other 94.0 16.3
Sienna Capital 2,521.1 1,785.0
Portfolio 21,339.5 20,626.6
Treasury shares 721.4 490.4
Gross debt (2,285.8) (2,601.7)
Cash and cash equivalents 722.7 1,834.1
Net asset value (global) 20,497.9 20,349.4
Net asset value (EUR p.s.)2 127.03 126.11
Stock price (EUR p.s.) 82.52 93.96
Discount 35.0% 25.5%

1 Closing stock price in EUR except for SGS and LafargeHolcim in CHF and Mowi in NOK
2 Based on 161,358,287 shares

1.3. Financial position
Net debt increased from EUR 768 million as of December 31, 2019 to EUR 1,563 million as of December 31, 2020. This increase,
detailed in the following table, notably takes into account the maturity of the prepaid forward sales of Total shares for
EUR 771 million, other divestments of EUR 323 million and cash earnings (EUR 440 million), these flows being partially offset by
investments (primarily Sienna Capital, Mowi, SGS and GBL) for EUR 1,756 million and the dividend distribution of
EUR 508 million:
EUR million Gross cash Gross debt Net debt
Position as of December 31, 2019 1,834.1 (2,601.7) (767.7)
Cash earnings 439.6 439.6
Dividend distribution (508.3) (508.3)
Investments: (1,756.1) (1,756.1)
Sienna Capital (425.5) (425.5)
Mowi (416.2) (416.2)
SGS (373.6) (373.6)
GBL (261.5) (261.5)
Imerys (73.7) (73.7)
adidas (13.9) (13.9)
Umicore (2.5) (2.5)
Other (189.2) (189.2)
Divestments: 322.6 771.3 1,093.9
Total - 771.3 771.3
Sienna Capital 129.7 129.7
Webhelp 41.5 41.5
Other 151.4 151.4
Bank financing 5.3 (5.3) -
Exchangeable bonds 455.7 (450.0) 5.7
Other (70.3) (70.3)
Position as of December 31, 2020 722.7 (2,285.8) (1,563.1)
Relative to the portfolio’s value, the net debt is at 7.3% as of December 31, 2020 and breaks down as follows:
EUR million December 31, 2020 December 31, 2019
Institutional bonds (1,000.0) (1,000.0)
Exchangeable bonds into LafargeHolcim shares (750.0) (750.0)
Exchangeable bonds into GEA shares (450.0) -
Debt related to the prepaid forward sales of Total shares - (771.3)
Other (85.8) (80.5)
Gross debt (2,285.8) (2,601.7)
Gross cash (excluding treasury shares) 722.7 1,834.1
(Net debt) / Net cash (1,563.1) (767.7)
The weighted average maturity of the gross debt is 3.3 years at the end of December 2020 (4.2 years at year-end 20191).
As of December 31, 2020, committed credit lines amount to EUR 2,150 million (fully undrawn) and mature over the 2024-26 period.
The liquidity profile amounts to EUR 2,873 million at the end of December 2020 (taking into account gross cash and the undrawn
amount under the committed credit lines), compared with EUR 3,984 million at the end of December 2019.

1 Excluding debt related to the prepaid forward sales of Total shares maturing in January 2020; 3.0 years including these forward sales.

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tijd 09.24
De Bel 20 3.852,06 +9,63 +0,25% GBL EUR 89,-- +2,16 vol. 43.000