Boskalis raises full-year profit outlook

Boskalis Westminster has raised its full-year profit outlook to €450 million in the wake of major deals including work on expanding the Suez Canal.

The Dutch-based dredging and maritime infrastructure company’s latest trading update confirmed its order book had increased to a total of €3.3 billion.

Its earlier forecasts had been for at least €366 million profit for 2014, but the completion of a number of existing projects had enhanced its finances further.

It said revenues were “in line” with its performance in the first two quarters of 2014, with its dredging and inland infrastructure operations – including a key venture for a $1.5 billion Suez canal upgrade in Egypt, proving particularly robust.

This month, the dredging company also expanded its portfolio of assets in acquiring a 15% stake in geotechnical surveying company Fugro.

Boskalis’ performance in the third quarter has built on its half-year results – which showed profits had doubled to €253 million, compared to €123 million for the same period last year.

The company said, “Overall market conditions remain challenging. Despite this, the order book has risen slightly, compared to the mid-2014 level, to EUR 3.3 billion. This is on a par with the level at the start of the year.

“Based on current insights, the second half of the year is expected to be good. Alongside the expected contribution from current projects, the realised close-out result on a number of old dredging projects is a substantial contributor. In view of these developments, we are raising full-year net profit outlook to EUR 450 million.”