Cautious optimism from Boskalis in trading update

Royal Boskalis Westminster has issued a trading update, in which it said Q1 2020 has “exceeded its expectations.” The offshore, marine, towage and dredging company said: “In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, Boskalis had a good first quarter. A modest increase in revenue was accompanied by a higher result compared to the same period last year.”

It said its orderbook decreased slightly at the end of the quarter, (compared to the record position held at the end of 2019), but to date it has not experienced any project cancellations of substance. Boskalis said its already very solid financial position improved further in the course of the first quarter.

The update said: “It seems inevitable that Covid-19 combined with the low oil price will have a negative impact on our business. The market picture drawn in our corporate business plan for 2020-2022, which was presented at the beginning of March, has become obsolete.

“Nevertheless, given the extreme circumstances, we are not entirely negative for the rest of the year.Thanks in part to the record orderbook with which we started the year, the precautionary measures taken and the first signs that Covid-19 restrictions appear to be stabilising worldwide, we are cautiously confident about the rest of the year.”

Elsewhere, the company said its offshore energy division has a quarter that “went well given the circumstances.” 

With a higher revenue level compared to Q1 2019, the operating result was slightly negative, whereas the result in 2019 was strongly negative. Its offshore wind and subsea cables segments had a relatively busy quarter.

For more information visit boskalis.com

18th May 2020