Offshore wind activities helped the energy division at Boskalis back into the black in the first half of the year but the performance could not turn the tide at the wider group, which shipped almost €100m in losses due to a €148m impairment charge.
The offshore energy unit, which includes its renewables operations, booked operating profit of €26.4m in the first six months, turning around a loss of €94m in the same period in 2019. A busy cable installation programme including work at Ostwind 2, Mora East, Hornsea 2 and Triton Knoll was behind the turnaround.
Boskalis also said claim settlements on a “limited number of offshore wind projects” contributed to the result.
However, group-wide losses hit €96.4m, compared to a €1.3m profit in H1 2019, due to the writedown. Boskalis said the non-cash €148m hit is due to an impairment on goodwill and vessels in two joint ventures and a plan to scrap a limited number of ships, both decisions reached after the company undertook a review due to Covid-19 and the oil price slump.
The company said net profit for the first half would have amounted to €47.5m without the impairment. Quarterly figures were not published.
Chief executive Peter Berdowski said the first six months was a “rollercoaster in which we pulled out all the stops to steer the company through the COVID-19 crisis”.
“Despite the unprecedented challenging circumstances we achieved an excellent operating result in the first half of the year. This remarkable achievement would not have been possible without the tremendous commitment and flexibility of our people working on the vessels, the projects and from home. They deserve a big thank you.”
He said the company implemented numerous measures at an early stage to deal with the crisis including sharply reducing overhead costs by bringing down non-project-related expenses and halving capital expenditure program, suspending a share buyback program and cancelling a dividend payout.
“Thanks to the well-filled order book a large part of our revenue for 2020 is already secured. We look ahead at the rest of 2020 with confidence and expect to match the EBITDA level achieved in 2019.”