Papendrecht, 9 May 2018
Developments at Royal Boskalis
Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) in 2018 have so far proceeded in line
with the market conditions as described during the 2017 annual
results presentation.
· Revenue
virtually unchanged compared to the first quarter of 2017.
Continued pressure on margins, particularly at the services
activities of Offshore Energy.
· Stable fleet
utilization at Dredging and mixed picture at Offshore
Energy.
· Further
increase in order book.
DEVELOPMENTS
During the presentation of the 2017 annual results
Boskalis noted that the current market picture in the oil and
gas-related segments in particular is characterized by lower
volumes of work and as a result pressure on margins and utilization
levels. The situation in the first quarter of 2018 was in line with
this expectation. Compared to the same period last year revenue was
virtually stable. Fleet utilization at Dredging was also stable,
although utilization of the offshore fleet showed a mixed picture.
The order book continued to increase in the course of the first
quarter, due in part to the two sizable Dredging contracts won
recently in Singapore.
Dredging & Inland Infra
Revenue at the Dredging & Inland Infra
division rose compared to the first quarter of last year with a
comparable result. Notable projects included Duqm (Oman), JNPT
(India), Nordvikkudden (Sweden) and PCCP (Panama) along with
various Room for the River projects in the Netherlands.
Given the circumstances, utilization of the hopper
fleet was good and stable compared to the utilization rate in 2017
as a whole. The utilization rate of the cutter fleet in the first
quarter was also good given the circumstances following a quiet
2017. The mega cutter suction dredger Helios, which was taken into
service last year, made a good contribution on the Duqm project
during the quarter under review.
The order book of the Dredging & Inland Infra
division showed a further increase compared to the end of 2017.
Notable new projects contracted include the expansion of the
Singapore Tuas Mega Port, the development of a polder in the
northeastern part of Singapore, the deepening of the Nieuwe
Waterweg in the Port of Rotterdam and a maintenance contract for
the UK Ministry of Defence. The recently announced EUR 85 million
contract from the City of Amsterdam to construct an artificial
island in the IJmeer lake is not included in the first quarter.
Offshore Energy
At Offshore Energy, in line with expectations,
there was a decline in both revenue and the result in the first
quarter. The decline was mainly related to the services activities,
where volumes and margins have been under pressure for a
considerable time. As stated previously, various options are being
considered to further rationalize the services activities at the
lower end of the market.
The contracting section of the division comprises
Marine Installation, Seabed Intervention and the Subsea
cable-laying activities. Notable projects executed included the
Aberdeen, Galloper and Rampion offshore wind farms. Revenue was
lower and fleet utilization slightly higher than in the same period
last year.
The services section of the division comprises Marine Transport
& Services, Subsea Services and Marine Survey. At Marine
Transport a number of large transport contracts, including the
Johan Sverdrup project, made a significant contribution to revenue.
On balance revenue was lower, in line with expectations, and
utilization rates were mediocre, in particular at the lower end of
the transport fleet.
At Subsea Services the winter season on the North
Sea is seasonally quieter. Revenue was comparable to the early part
of last year with good utilization of the diving support
vessels.
Marine Survey, comprising the Gardline activities acquired in the
middle of last year, also tends to have a quiet period during the
winter months. Nevertheless this early-cyclical activity is showing
signs of recovery compared to recent years and the order book for
2018 is filling up.
The overall Offshore Energy order book was
slightly lower than at the end of 2017.
Towage & Salvage
Salvage had a good start to the year. In addition
to a number of smaller emergency response contracts revenue was
lifted by the contract to salvage the ultra large container ship
Maersk Honam, which caught fire in the Arabian Sea.
All Towage activities were transferred into
regional joint ventures with effect from the second quarter of
2016. The results of these activities are only recognized as
results from joint ventures and associates.
The margins at Towage are under pressure due to the limited volume
of activities in the offshore oil and gas sector and the price
pressure in container transport.
OUTLOOK
As stated in our 2017 annual results release the
current market picture in the oil and gas-related segments in
particular is characterized by lower volumes of work and the
resulting pressure on both margins and utilization levels. There
has been no material change in this picture since then, although
the LNG-related activities and offshore oil activities in the
Middle East are showing tentative signs of recovery.
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 2018 full-year result early on in the year. Based on
today's knowledge it is not expected that the 2017 net result will
be matched.
Capital expenditure in 2018 is expected to be
around EUR 250 million, excluding acquisitions, and will be
financed from the company's own cash flow. The net debt position
increased in the first quarter, partly as a result of the share
buy-back program, investments, the development of the result and
the partly seasonal movements in working capital. Boskalis has a
very sound financial position and comfortably meets its financial
covenants.
2018 |
FINANCIAL CALENDAR |
9
May |
Annual
General Meeting of Shareholders |
11
May |
Ex-dividend date |
14
May |
Record
date for dividend entitlement (after market close) |
28
May |
Final
date for stating of dividend preference |
31
May |
Determination and publication of conversion rate for dividend based
on the average share price on 29, 30 and 31 May 2018 (after market
close) |
5
June |
Date of
dividend payment and delivery of shares |
16
August |
Publication of 2018 half-year results |
9
November |
Trading
update on third quarter of 2018 |
For further
information
Investor relations:
Martijn L.D. Schuttevâer
ir@boskalis.com
Press:
Arno Schikker
press@boskalis.com
T +31 78 6969310
This is a
Boskalis press release on the grounds of article 17 paragraph 1 of
the European Market Abuse Regulation (596/2014).
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 harbor towage and terminal
services (Kotug Smit Towage, Keppel Smit Towage, Saam Smit Towage
and Smit Lamnalco). With a versatile fleet of more than 900 vessels
and floating equipment and 10,700 employees, including associated
companies, Boskalis operates in 90 countries across six
continents.
This press release can also be found on our
website www.boskalis.com.
pdf version press release
This
announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf
of Nasdaq 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
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