Boskalis suffers under tough market conditions

Boskalis has claimed that a deterioration in market conditions is to blame for the company’s fall in revenue by 25% year-on-year for the first half of 2016.

The company’s revenue was €1.17 billion for the period 1 January to 31 June.

The Dutch company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was down 36% year-on-year to €317 million for the first half of 2016.

Peter Berdowski, CEO at Boskalis, said, “At the start of the year we indicated that we are experiencing stormy conditions.

“Falling prices of oil, gas and commodities are the dark clouds on the horizon that ultimately also affect late-cyclical companies such as Boskalis. The volume of work in the market has dropped significantly and a decline in revenue and the result is therefore inevitable.”

He added that the company expected the current market environment to persist for several years. He said Boskalis had taken the necessary steps to adjust the size of its employees, following its announcement of redundancies in July.

He added, “As previously announced we will take 24 vessels out of service in the 2016-2018 period and consequently have to let go of a large number of employees.

“These are drastic measures that unfortunately need to be taken to ensure that Boskalis remains healthy going forward.”

Boskalis said it expected lower volumes of work to continue in the near-future.