The Netherlands-headquartered Boskalis reported strong results in the first half of 2022 with high utilisation rates for its large ships and increased revenues.
Compared to the same period of last year, revenue increased by 22 percent to EUR1.61 billion (USD1.64 billion). EBITDA increased by 29 percent to EUR292 million (USD296.8 million), including a book profit of EUR50 million (USD50.8 million) from the sale of Keppel Smit Towage.
H1 2022 net profit amounted to EUR116 million (USD117.9 million), including EUR37 million (USD37.6 million) in exceptional items – up from EUR72 million (USD73.2 million) in H1 2021.
Revenue increased by 3 percent and the EBITDA result increased by 29 percent at Boskalis’ offshore energy division. A sharp decline in the contracting activities, partly due to a volume decline in subsea cables, was offset by a good half for the services part of the division.
The utilisation of heavy transport vessels in the marine transport and services division was exceptionally high, said Boskalis. Subsea services and marine survey also had a good operational half supported by strong demand from both the offshore wind and the traditional oil and gas markets. In the second quarter, the new crane vessel Bokalift 2 was commissioned and has since been working on the Changfang and Xidao offshore wind project in Taiwan.
Peter Berdowski, ceo at Boskalis, said: “Over the past six months we have managed to achieve a substantial increase in revenue and earnings – an excellent achievement given the restrictive Covid-19 measures that were still having a major impact on our projects until recently and the inflationary pressures we are experiencing worldwide.
“At dredging, the dominant theme is our work in Manila Bay. The construction of the new international airport is the largest project in our history and the contours of the new land are now visible. In addition to the long-term deployment of our large dredgers, this project also provides a significant amount of local employment. Outside the Philippines, our colleagues were also very active with impressive projects, such as the construction of the Fehmarnbelt tunnel between Denmark and Germany and the protection of large parts of the Netherlands against climate change with the strengthening of dikes and coastal areas.
“At offshore energy, we are reaping the benefits of our strategy of focusing on multipurpose vessels and services with which we are able to serve both the traditional markets and the offshore wind market. With demand from both markets picking up, we achieved a very good result with subsea services and marine survey. In the past six months we also took the Bokalift 2 into service, one of the largest installation vessels in the industry. The vessel was commissioned with a visibility of almost three years of work in offshore wind in hand. Offshore energy’s order book now consists of over 60 percent of offshore wind projects.
“At towage and salvage, we concluded an important process from a strategic point of view. In 2019, we announced our intention to divest our three major harbour towage joint ventures. At the end of June, we successfully sold Keppel Smit Towage, the last of these joint ventures, resulting in a book profit of EUR50 million and over EUR90 million (USD91.5 million) in cash.”
Boskalis said that with the size and composition of its orderbook, the company is in good shape for the rest of the yearassuming that Covid-19-related restrictive measures experienced over the past two years, particularly in the Far East, will not return.
Takeover update
In March 2022, HAL (Boskalis’ existing majority shareholder) launched its all-cash takeover of Boskalis with an offer that valued the heavy lift and marine services contractor at USD4.42 billion. Boskalis said it would explain its position to its shareholders in an extraordinary general meeting, after which it will be up to the shareholders whether they wish to offer their shares. “In the course of September more clarity will emerge regarding the outcome of the offer,” said the company.
