In 2019, Van Oord recorded € 1.64 billion in revenue, 12% lower than 2018 (€ 1.88 billion). The dredging activities generated a revenue of € 690 million (€ 852 million in 2018). Actions to restore profitable growth have been initiated. The decrease in offshore wind activities (2019: € 571 million vs 2018: € 706 million) was driven by the smaller number and size of projects currently under construction.
The company remains positive about the prospects of offshore wind and does see substantial opportunities ahead in this market. Revenue in the Netherlands business unit increased to € 173 million (2018: € 115 million). In the Offshore business unit revenue slightly increased (2019: € 210 million, 2018 € 203 million). Van Oord realised a net profit of € 46 million compared to € 92 million in 2018. Excluding one-offs items, the sale of Gemini offshore wind farm shares in 2018 and the refinancing in 2018 and 2019, the net profit amounted to € 59 million in 2019 and € 74 million in 2018. The lower net result in 2019 mainly reflects the pressure on project results, combined with lower overhead recovery due to revenue decline. The EBITDA in 2019 was € 254 million (2018: € 306 million).Their order book is solid at € 3.61 billion at year-end 2019, compared to € 3.68 billion in 2018. We realised € 1.58 billion of new awards (2018: € 2.16 billion).
In 2020 the company experiences a great deal of uncertainty due to the global outbreak of the corona virus (COVID-19). Market experts remain very positive about the global offshore wind market and expect required capacity to increase substantially over the next two decades. In 2019 Europe added circa 20% net offshore capacity across multiple wind farms. Outside Europe China, Taiwan, United States, Korea, India, and Japan are pushing or will push offshore wind developments.