The market picture and developments at Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. for the first three months of the year are in line with the expectations outlined at the publication of the 2018 annual results, reported the company today.
The first quarter has progressed in line with this expectation.
According to Boskalis, revenue was higher compared to the same period last year. Given the market conditions, utilization of the Dredging fleet was good while utilization at Offshore Energy showed a mixed picture.
The size of the order book was stable at the end of the quarter compared to the end of 2018 and since then various new projects were contracted both at Dredging & Inland Infra and Offshore Energy, reported the company.
As reported, revenue at the Dredging & Inland Infra division rose compared to the first quarter of last year.
Notable projects in progress include Duqm (Oman), JNPT (India), Nordvikkudden (Sweden), Pulau Tekong Polder and Tuas Terminal 2 (both in Singapore) and various medium-sized projects in the Netherlands.
Given the market conditions, utilization of the hopper fleet was good, Boskalis added. Partly as a result of planned repairs of a mega hopper the utilization rate was lower than the annual utilization rate for 2018.
Utilization of the cutter fleet was strong in the first quarter, due in part to the deployment of the mega cutter Helios on the Duqm project.
The order book of Dredging & Inland Infra was virtually stable compared to the end of 2018. Notable new contracted projects include the expansion of the Port of Adelaide (Australia) and various smaller projects in Europe.
After the close of the quarter two projects were contracted in Indonesia as well as a large infrastructural project in the Netherlands (Rijnlandroute sub-project).
The market picture for 2019 is not expected to be fundamentally different than that of 2018.
“ The project-based nature of a significant part of our activities, along with the uncertain market conditions, makes it difficult to give a specific quantitative forecast with regard to the 2019 full-year result early on in the year ,” Boskalis said.
Capital expenditure in 2019 is expected to exceed EUR 250 million, including the recently acquired assets of Bohlen & Doyen offshore but excluding acquisitions, and will be financed from the company’s own cash flow.