26 April 2007 02:00

Rotterdam (Netherlands), 26 April 2007

Highlights first quarter 2007

  • Continued strong demand for storage services
  • 127,200 cbm additional capacity commissioned worldwide
  • New projects announced for Singapore; Vopak to add more than 2.0 million cbm to global storage capacity over next few years
  • Barring unforeseen circumstances, Vopak expects Group operating profit excluding exceptional items to increase by 15% to 20% in 2007 (2006: EUR 220.9 million)

John Paul Broeders, Chairman of the Executive Board of Royal Vopak:

“The efforts we put into expanding our capacity and improving profitability produced a healthy operating profit for the first quarter. The demand for our professional services remains high, mainly because of a larger imbalance between the production regions and the consumption regions and the increasing use of biofuels. Responding to the needs of our customers, we commissioned additional capacity this quarter in Sydney (Australia), Lanshan and Ulsan (Korea) and Vlaardingen (Netherlands). We also added two new expansions at the Banyan and Penjuru terminals, Singapore, to our project list, and we will add capacity in Vietnam. In line with corporate strategy, Vopak invests in projects to expand capacity, increase services to customers and conduct operations efficiently.”