March 13 - Royal Boskalis Westminster (Boskalis) achieved a record net profit of EUR490 million (USD521 million) in 2014, compared with EUR366 million (USD389 million) in 2013.

In 2014, the company's revenue also rose by 1 percent to EUR3.2 billion (USD3.4 billion) compared with the previous year.

Boskalis noted that its offshore energy business had a good year with high fleet utilisation and good project margins. Moreover, said the company, Dockwise contributed an extra 25 percent to earnings compared with 2013, and achieved exceptional cancellation and rescheduling fees. The result that Dockwise achieved in its first full year with the group was an all-time high.

"Despite being busy in the past year we made significant progress in optimising our organisation and the business processes, in accordance with our 2014-2016 business plan," said Boskalis ceo Peter Berdowski. "The introduction of the previously announced divisional model has now been implemented, and the physical integration of Dockwise and Fairmount in Papendrecht is being completed. "

Berdowski added that although the current market environment offers a mixed picture, with some challenging conditions in the offshore energy industry, it also presents opportunities, even for selective growth. Boskalis added that it sees a stable market picture in terms of large-scale maritime infrastructure projects and the developments in and around ports, which should mean that its dredging, inland infra, and towage markets remain stable in 2015. 

In terms of developments in the offshore energy market, Boskalis sees a "difference between the short and long term". While the short term is strongly impacted by the low oil price, Boskalis believes that in the medium to long term the development of prosperity and economic growth will drive the demand for energy.

Boskalis concluded that it is unable to provide quantitative guidance with regard to its 2015 full-year result outlook due to the project-based nature of a major part of its activities, but it made clear that the contribution from possible exceptional items will be substantially lower in 2015 than it was in 2014.

 

Dockwise contributed an extra 25 percent to earnings in 2014.

 

www.boskalis.com

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