Boskalis 2018 Results: Relatively Stable Year for Dredging & Inland Infra

Boskalis has closed 2018 with a lower result, in line with expectations – net operating profit was EUR 83 million (2017: EUR 150 million).

Including an almost entirely non-cash extraordinary charge of EUR 519 million there was a net loss of EUR 436 million, said the company.

Revenue rose 10% compared to the previous year to EUR 2.57 billion (2017: EUR 2.34 billion).

Commenting the latest report, Peter Berdowski, CEO of Boskalis, said: “In the past year we once again executed a large number of impressive projects at home and abroad. In doing so we once again pushed back boundaries, for example with the dry transport of an FPSO weighing a record 90,000 tons and with the largely dry excavation of a new port in Duqm, Oman.”

“At Dredging the performance was in line with expectations with a slightly higher fleet utilization rate and an increase in both revenue and the result. In addition we managed to achieve a substantial increase in contracted work, boosting the order book at Dredging by more than 20% to over EUR 3 billion.”

“Looking ahead, we see cautious signs of recovery in the markets relevant to us in due course, although we are still a long way away from the exuberant market climate of three to five years ago. In the short term we will continue to maintain a disciplined and selective focus on opportunities to strengthen our position, in anticipation of recovery further down the line.”

EBITDA equaled EUR 354 million and the operating result was EUR 119 million, both adjusted for extraordinary charges (2017: EBITDA EUR 437 million and EBIT EUR 185 million).

“The lower result is mainly attributable to a sharp decline in the result at the Offshore Energy division, which posted an operating loss for the first half of 2018. In light of the poor prospects the decision was taken in the first half of the year to terminate the low-end transport activities within this division,” said Boskalis.

“Market conditions have also deteriorated for the harbor towage activities, mainly as a result of the consolidation among the large container shipping companies. Together these developments resulted in an extraordinary charge of EUR 519 million, almost entirely non-cash and consisting primarily of impairments of goodwill and vessels.”

Dredging & Inland Infra had a relatively stable year, according to the latest report.

With a number of large works in progress in countries including India and Oman, supplemented by a large number of medium-sized projects, both revenue and the result rose by over 10%. Utilization of both the hopper fleet and the cutter fleet was slightly higher than in the previous year.

The margin was stable compared to 2017 with the usual combination of results from ongoing works and from the financial settlement of projects completed earlier.