Royal Boskalis Westminster (Boskalis) has concluded a strong first half year. The utilisation of the large vessels was high and with a strong increase in revenue, earnings also rose sharply, in particular due to an exceptional gain.
Compared to last year, revenue increased by 22% to EUR 1.61 billion (H1 2021: EUR 1.32 billion). Adjusted for (de)consolidation and currency effects, revenue growth was 20%. EBITDA increased by 29% to EUR 292 million (H1 2021: EUR 226 million), including a book profit of EUR 50 million from the sale of Keppel Smit Towage. Operating profit including exceptional items increased by 47% to EUR 143 million (H1 2021: EUR 97 million). Net profit amounted to EUR 116 million, including EUR 37 million in exceptional items, whereas a year ago a net profit of EUR 72 million was reported.
At Offshore Energy, revenue increased by 3% and the EBITDA result increased by 29%. A sharp decline in the contracting activities, partly due to a volume decline at Subsea Cables, was more than offset by a good half year at the services part of the division. The utilization of the heavy transport vessels in Marine Transport & Services was exceptionally high and also Subsea Services and Marine Survey had a very good operational half year. The strong demand from both the offshore wind market and the traditional oil and gas market was partly causing this. In the second quarter the new crane vessel Bokalift 2 was commissioned and has since been working on the sizable Changfang & Xidao offshore wind project in Taiwan. At Offshore Energy the workload rose sharply with the addition of EUR 1 billion in new projects, the largest share of which is related to offshore wind. Offshore Energy’s order book now consists of over 60% of offshore wind projects.