Sif has reported a 200% increase pre-tax earnings (EBIDTA) for the first quarter of the year.
The firm achieved EBITDA of €8.1m, up from earnings of €2.7m for the same period last year.
The increased income is largely due to a recent throughput of 44Kton of steel at the Rotterdam facility that was some 9Kton higher than in early 2020.
Sif chief executive Fred van Beers said the first quarter had seen the yard busy with the fabrication of monopiles for Vattenfall’s 1.5GW Holldandse Kust Zuid project off the Netherlands.
“Based on our current order book, our total production in 2021 will end in line with our earlier indication of 185 Kton or 200 monopiles, resulting in a markedly higher EBITDA level compared to 2020,” he said.
Earnings were also bolstered in Q1 by a €0.4m contribution from ongoing marshalling work for foundations and turbines for the 48MW Kincardine phase 2 project off Scotland at its Massvlakte base.
Engineering services contributed a further €0.4m towards the Sif’s strong start to the year.
Sif said sick leave levels were “returning to normal” but that precautionary COVID-19 measures such as testing were still impacting efficiency at the its Rotterdam plant.
The company said its order book stands at 140 Kton for the remainder of the year and 250kton for 2022-2023.
“We currently are pre-qualifying or tendering for projects in European, American and Asian waters for the 2023 and beyond timeframe,” van Beers said.
“The vast majority of these projects assume 13 to 15 MW turbines and envisage monopile foundations with diameters beyond 9 metres and lengths up to 100 metres.
“We are in the process of an extensive research study into the impact hereof on our production facilities. The results of this study will be shared with the market later this year.”