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Van Oord navigating challenging times

4C Offshore | Tom Russell
By: Tom Russell 21/03/2017 Van Oord
Van OordVan Oord's 2016 was a challenging year, the Dutch based company reports revenue was down to €1.71bn (2015: €2.58bn) with net profits dropping to €90m, a decrease of €79m compared 2015. (€169m).

The company explained its offshore oil & gas division was affected by deteriorated market conditions, with revenue standing at €130m, considerably lower than in 2015 €242m.

Offshore wind projects generated €394m in revenue, compared with €715m in 2015. The decline mainly had to do with the Gemini offshore wind project, which was in full swing in 2015 and was completed in 2016.  

Despite the revenue reduction, Van Oord stated that 2016 was a special year for offshore wind. The completion of the Gemini project in the autumn of 2016 added a total power output of 600MW to green energy production in the Netherlands. This was Van Oord’s biggest project ever and it explained that the execution was very successful.

Van Oord has had a 10% stake in the Gemini project since 2014. The other shareholders are Northland Power Inc. (60%), Siemens Project Ventures (20%) and HVC (10%). Altogether, the shareholders have contributed a total equity of €400m.

In 2016, Van Oord was also awarded contracts for a large number of new offshore wind projects, such as Borssele III & IV (Netherlands), and Norther (Belgium).

"The year 2016 also saw a breakthrough in the costing of offshore wind projects. The price level that won Van Oord the Borssele III & IV tender (in a consortium with Eneco, Shell and Mitsubishi) set a new standard. Such low costs mean that offshore wind will form an increasingly important part of Northwest Europe’s low-carbon energy mix. We are proud to be playing a prominent role in making this happen,"
said CEO Pieter van Oord.

Van Oord also stated that it is continuing to modernise its fleet. This includes the upgrade heavy-lift installation vessel Svanen to install monopiles for wind turbines of more than 2,000 tonnes. Its installation vessel Aeolus will be enlarged and will soon be able to lift up to 1,600 tonnes.

Van Oord added a considerable number of projects to its order portfolio in 2016. However, since most of these projects will be executed in 2018 and later, the company explained that will not see any positive effects in its financial results until then. The company expects 2017 to be a challenging year with the harsh market circumstances for dredging and offshore oil & gas.

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