Boskalis full year result boosted by good second half year

Papendrecht, 5 March 2020

‎HIGHLIGHTS 2019

• Revenue: EUR 2.6 billion
• EBITDA: EUR 376 million
• EBIT: EUR 111 million
• Net profit: EUR 75 million
• Record high order book: EUR 4.7 billion
• Net debt-free: EUR 26 million net cash
• Dividend proposal: EUR 0.50 per share all cash

OUTLOOK

• Well-filled order book for 2020
• Dredging: stable market volume with stable margins
• Offshore Energy: gradual market recovery
• Towage: stable market

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) ended 2019 well after a difficult first half of the year with EBITDA of EUR 376 million, slightly above its own expectations. Net profit came in at EUR 75 million (2018: EUR 436 million loss).

Revenue increased by 2.9% compared to a year earlier to EUR 2.64 billion (2018: EUR 2.57 billion).

EBITDA totaled EUR 376 million and EBIT amounted to EUR 111 million, including extraordinary book profits. The 2018 EBITDA was EUR 354 million and EBIT EUR 119 million, both adjusted for extraordinary charges.

The decline in the result was mainly due to a poor first half of the year for the Offshore Energy division, with operational and contractual issues at a limited number of offshore wind cable and decommissioning projects. Following a thorough analysis of the project portfolio, provisions of more than EUR 100 million were taken in the first half of the year with respect to a limited number of contracts.

The result in both 2019 and 2018 was impacted by various extraordinary items. In 2019 these related to a book profit on the sale of two harbor towage joint ventures as well as the sale of equipment. In 2018 these items related to considerable non-cash impairment charges.

Dredging & Inland Infra realized a healthy revenue growth of more than 6% that was fully generated outside of Europe, due in part to large projects in Oman, Singapore and Canada. The utilization of the hopper fleet was slightly less strong compared to 2018 but was still well above the average utilization rate in the industry, whereas the utilization rate of the cutter fleet was considerably higher than the previous year. EBITDA was virtually stable with a lower operational margin. Various high-profile projects were awarded in the course of 2019 that contributed to a growth in the order book.