Papendrecht, 10 May 2016
Developments at Royal
Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) in 2016 have so far been in
line with the company's expectations.
-
Strong decline in revenue
due to continued challenging market conditions
-
Lower fleet utilization at
both Dredging and Offshore Energy
-
Slightly higher order
book
Developments
Boskalis closed the first quarter of 2016 in line
with expectations. As stated at the release of the 2015 full-year
results volumes and prices in the markets relevant to Boskalis are
under pressure. As a result of this, fleet utilization has dropped
and revenue declined strongly compared to the same period in 2015.
The EBITDA margins were slightly down compared to the same period
in 2015 and the order book increased slightly during the first
quarter.
Dredging & Inland Infra
Revenue in the Dredging & Inland Infra segment
declined compared to the first quarter of last year. The decline is
partly attributable to the completion of the Suez Canal project,
which made a substantial contribution to last year's revenue.
Notable projects in the first quarter of 2016 were port maintenance
works in countries including Germany, Australia and Mexico, and
land reclamation projects in Indonesia and Panama. The utilization
rate of the hopper and cutter fleet was lower than last year due to
maintenance and in line with the lower volume of work.
The order book of the Dredging & Inland Infra
segment increased slightly during the quarter compared to the end
of 2015. Notable new projects contracted include the construction
of artificial islands off the coast of Makassar (Indonesia),
construction of the Offshore Terminal Bremerhaven (Germany) and
reinforcement of the Wadden Sea dike on the island of Texel (the
Netherlands). In early March, a consortium including Boskalis was
designated the preferred bidder for the dredging work for the
Fehmarnbelt tunnel connecting Germany and Denmark. The contract
negotiations are progressing well and Boskalis expects the
contract, which is valued at EUR 600 million (Boskalis' share
50%), to be signed in the near term.
At the end of the first quarter, Boskalis
concluded the acquisition of the dredging assets of STRABAG
Wasserbau GmbH, thereby strengthening its home market position in
Germany and fulfilling an important part of the foreseen
requirement to replace part of the hopper fleet.
Offshore Energy
At Offshore Energy there was a decline in revenue
in the first quarter, in line with expectations.
Subsea Contracting was active with wind farm-related rock
installation work in Europe, whilst last year large projects in
Australia, the Philippines and Azerbaijan were underway. The
fallpipe vessels were well utilized in the first quarter.
Marine Contracting had a good start to the year with a combination
of wind farm projects (Veja Mate and Wikinger) and oil & gas
projects (Hebron, Clair Ridge and preparation work for Moho Nord
and Aasta Hansteen).
In the first quarter Logistical Management once again carried out
transports for the Ichthys and Wheatstone LNG projects in
Australia. Both projects will be completed according to schedule by
mid-2016.
The impact of the deteriorated market conditions was clearly
visible at Marine Services, with both the large Anchor Handling
Tugs and the Dockwise vessels seeing pressure on tariffs and lower
utilization levels compared to last year.
At Subsea Services the activities in the North Sea continued to
remain under pressure. This was partially offset by deploying
vessels on decommissioning and offshore wind farm and munitions
clearance projects in Europe.
The Offshore Energy order book decreased slightly
compared to end-2015.
Towage & Salvage
There was a slight decline in revenue at Towage
(harbour towage activities in Northwest Europe) in the first
quarter. The contribution from the towage joint ventures was
comparable to last year.
Salvage started the year with a number of impressive and successful
emergency response contracts, including the rescue of a ro-ro
vessel that went adrift in the Bay of Biscay and the refloating of
a 19,000 TEU container vessel that ran aground in the Elbe River
near the German port of Hamburg. In contrast to last year there are
no major wreck removal projects underway or in the portfolio,
resulting in a decline in revenue at Salvage.
At the beginning of April, Boskalis and KOTUG
completed the merger of their European harbour towage services. The
joint operations were transferred to a new 50/50 joint venture,
which will operate under the name KOTUG SMIT Towage. At the
financial close Boskalis refinanced its contribution to the joint
venture and as a consequence freed up and received EUR 90 million
in cash. The European harbour towage operations will be
deconsolidated as from the second quarter and recognized as a joint
venture.
Outlook
The market in general has seen no material change
since the release of the 2015 full-year results and will be
characterized in the coming period by lower volumes of work and
pressure on utilization rates and margins. At Dredging & Inland
Infra the emphasis will be on maintaining utilization rates at
responsible margins and levels of project risk. With the current
orders in hand a good part of the fleet will be utilized for 2016,
albeit at lower margins than in previous years. The picture at
Offshore Energy remains mixed. A number of long-term contracts and
work already contracted provide stability for part of the fleet,
but the spot market-related transport activities and subsea
services are experiencing pressure on utilization rates and
margins. At the same time the offshore wind market presents new
opportunities, partly through the recently announced intention to
acquire offshore activities of VolkerWessels.
As from the second quarter all the Towage
activities have been transferred to joint ventures. Market volumes
in this segment are relatively stable, although competition is
expected to increase, especially in terminal services.
To respond to these market developments we have
launched a fleet rationalization and cost reduction program. It is
expected that especially at Dredging equipment will be taken out of
service with the associated implications for staffing levels. In
addition, we are taking a critical look at reducing the costs of
the global office network.
The project-based nature of a significant part of
our activities, in addition to the uncertain market conditions,
makes it difficult to give a specific quantitative forecast with
regard to the 2016 full-year result early on in the year. It is,
however, clear that net profit will be substantially lower than the
exceptionally strong 2015 result.
Boskalis continues to have a very sound financial
position. Capital expenditure in 2016 is expected to be around EUR
200 million, excluding acquisitions, and will be financed from the
company's own cash flow.
2016 |
Financial agenda |
10 May |
Annual General Meeting of
Shareholders |
12 May |
Ex-dividend date |
13 May |
Record date for dividend entitlement
(after market close) |
27 May |
Final date for stating preference
for dividend in cash or shares |
1 June |
Determination and publication of
conversion rate for stock dividend based on the volume-weighted
average share price on 30 and 31 May and 1 June (after market
close) |
3 June |
Dividend payment and delivery of
shares |
18 August |
Publication of 2016 half-year
results |
11 November |
Trading update on third quarter of
2016 |
For further
information
Investor relations:
Martijn L.D. Schuttevâer
ir@boskalis.com
T +31 78 6969310
This is an
English translation of the Dutch press release. In the event of any
disparity between the Dutch original and this translation, the
Dutch text will prevail.
Royal
Boskalis Westminster N.V. is a leading global services provider
operating in the dredging, maritime infrastructure and maritime
services sectors. The company provides creative and innovative
all-round solutions to infrastructural challenges in the maritime,
coastal and delta regions of the world with services including the
construction and maintenance of ports and waterways, land
reclamation, coastal defense and riverbank protection. In addition,
Boskalis offers a wide variety of marine services and contracting
for the oil and gas sector and offshore wind industry as well as
salvage solutions (SMIT Salvage). Furthermore, Boskalis has a
number of strategic partnerships in harbour towage and terminal
services (KOTUG SMIT Towage, Keppel Smit Towage, Saam Smit Towage
and Smit Lamnalco). With a versatile fleet of 1,000 units Boskalis
operates in around 75 countries across six continents. Boskalis has
over 8,200 employees, excluding its share in
partnerships.
This press release can also be found on our
website www.boskalis.com.
pdf version press release
This
announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on
behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely
responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the
information contained therein.
Source: Koninklijke Boskalis Westminster N.V. via
Globenewswire
HUG#2011110
Royl.Boskalis (LSE:BOKA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Royl.Boskalis (LSE:BOKA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024