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Boskalis said its 10% revenue rise due to its takeover of marine salvage company Smit, which had been consolidated across the first half of 2011 but only the second quarter of 2010. The takeover boosted Boskalis’ salvage operating result to €23.9 million for the first half, compared to €7.1 million in 2010, with salvage activities in India and Indonesia contributing to the lift.
Revenue from its Dredging & Earthmoving segment was down on the same period last year, Boskalis said, with dredging activities seeing a decline and fleet usage levels under pressure. The lower fleet utilisation dragged the segment’s operating result to €112.6 million from €130.6 million, though Boskalis said the results were satisfactory, “or even good” on the same period the previous year, which was positively impacted by the settlement of various insurance claims.
Boskalis’s Transport & Heavy Lift activities saw a slight improvement thanks to the pick-up in North Sea spot contracts, but the market in the Far East and Middle East had not improved, it said. The contribution of Terminal Services to the result was down on last year, partly due to the temporary underutilisation of some tugs as a result of continued weakness in the spot market, while the Harbour Towage contribution was on par with the previous year.
Boskalis chief executive Peter Berdowski said the company was positive about the result, given what were challenging market conditions. “For the first time in years we saw a sharp decline in the utilisation of in particular the larger dredging vessels due to the lower volumes of work in the market and our selective contracting policy,” he in the statement. “We view the tightened market conditions with lower volumes of work and increased competition as a transitional phase with better prospects for the medium term.”
Berdowski said large-scale investment plans in the oil and gas industry and global port developments would benefit the company. “We do, however, expect that the recently exacerbated macroeconomic unrest will affect the timing of these investments and are factoring in the possibility that investment decisions in large-scale projects may slip into 2012 and 2013,” he said. The company’s second half result was likely to be on par with its first half, Boskalis said.
