Dutch dredging company and marine contract[ds_preview]or Royal Boskalis Westminster has published a profit collapse for the first six months of the year.
The net profit dropped from 306.5 mill. € in the corresponding period of 2015 to 147.5 mill. Revenue fell 25% to 1.17 billion € (H1 2015: EUR 1.57 billion). Boskalis named the deteriorated market conditions as main cause of the development. As well in 2015 the dredging works at the Suez Canal had a huge impact on the balance sheet. EBITDA in the first half of the year totaled EUR 317.6 million and the operating result (EBIT) was EUR 182.4 million (H1 2015 EBITDA: EUR 500.1 million, EBIT: EUR 359.3 million).
Peter Berdowski, CEO Boskalis, said: »At the start of the year we indicated that we are experiencing stormy conditions. Falling prices of oil, gas and commodities are the dark clouds on the horizon that ultimately also affect late-cyclical companies such as Boskalis. The volume of work in the market has dropped significantly and a decline in revenue and the result is therefore inevitable.«
He expects the current market environment to persist for several years. »We have therefore taken the necessary steps to adjust the size and composition of the fleet to this new reality. As previously announced we will take 24 vessels out of service in the 2016-2018 period and consequently have to let go of a large number of employees. These are drastic measures that unfortunately need to be taken to ensure that Boskalis remains healthy going forward«, Berdowski added.
Based on the fleet planning and work in the order book, and subject to unforeseen circumstances, the Board of Management expects the level of operating net profit in the second half of 2016 to approach the level achieved in the first half of the year.
