Highlights for first half 2008:
- Group operating profit excluding exceptional items rises 12% to EUR 156.8 million (1H 2007: EUR 139.4 million)
- Net profit attributable to holders of ordinary shares increases 17% to EUR 106.9 million (1H 2007: EUR 91.5 million)
- Earnings per ordinary share up by 16% to EUR 1.71 (1H 2007: EUR 1.47)
- Vopak’s worldwide storage capacity expands further during the half year by over 4.5 million cubic metres (cbm) as newly-built storage capacity (1.1 million cbm) is commissioned and through acquisitions and new joint ventures (3.4 million cbm)
Outlook:
- Vopak will add more than 7 million cbm in total to its worldwide network in the period from 2008 to 2011
- The total investment in all projects under construction (2008-2011) is some EUR 1.7 billion (excluding acquisitions and mergers); Vopak’s share of the remaining capital expenditure is some EUR 400 million
- Vopak is positive about its commercial, operating and financial development and so fully maintains its expectation for 2008 issued previously of an increase of at least 10% in group operating profit excluding exceptional items (2007: EUR 272.9 million)
- As a result of acquisitions as well as the current expansion projects coming on stream and despite slower economic growth, Vopak expects to achieve the estimated indicator for 2011 of group operating profit before depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of EUR 475-550 million per year one or two years earlier.
John Paul Broeders, Chairman of the Executive Board of Royal Vopak:
‘In the past six months, consistent ongoing implementation of our strategy has again led to an increase in group operating profit. Thanks to the further expansion of our existing terminals and the completion of certain significant joint ventures, including in the Bahamas and Estonia, our proven international growth strategy is taking further shape in 31 countries, in locations of strategic importance to our customers.
A significant milestone was the official start on 28 June 2008 of construction of the Gate (Gas Access To Europe) terminal, an LNG import terminal that further strengthens our core activities and that will allow Vopak to make a positive contribution to the efficient, sustainable and safe receipt, storage and transmission of liquid natural gas for millions of European households from 2011.’