Boskalis Sees Profit Halved

Dutch marine services player Royal Boskalis Westminster has seen a profit drop of close to 50 percent in the first half of 2017 on weak offshore market which affected company’s revenue by close to €79 million.

For the first six months ended June 30, 2017, Boskalis generated net income of €75 million, or €0.58 per share, on revenue of €1.09 billion, versus net income of €148 million, or €1.17 per share on revenue of €1.17 billion in the corresponding period in 2016.

Revenue (€495.2 million) and result declined due in part to poor market conditions in the oil and gas industry, and there were no major offshore wind farm projects in progress this year. The company’s cable-laying division VBMS had a good first half of the year, making a significant contribution to the division’s results, Boskalis noted.

Boskalis reported first half 2017 EBITDA of €225 million, down from a year-earlier result of €318 million.

Depreciation, amortization and impairments amounted to €123.4 million, against €135.2 million in H1 2016.

The company’s order book increased to € 3.24 billion, compared to €2.7 billion at the end of H1 2016.

Boskalis said it expects net profit in the second half of 2017, excluding the restructuring charge, to be comparable to the level of net profit realized in the first half of the year.

At the end of the H1 2017, Boskalis reported a net cash position of €235 million.

Gardline

“The weak offshore market also presents clear opportunities for us to strengthen the company, as evidenced by the recently announced acquisition of Gardline,” said Peter Berdowski, CEO.

With this acquisition Boskalis said it aims to strengthen its existing survey activities and becomes a specialist provider of subsea geotechnical surveys with an exposure to the renewables market and the early cyclical oil and gas market. The consideration paid including assumed debt amounts to approximately GBP 40 million.

To remind, Boskalis was said to be targeting Dutch subsea survey player Fugro, who ended 2015 and 2016 with a combined loss of some €680 million, only to give up on that target earlier this year.

Subsea World News Staff