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Terminal operator Royal Vopak has announced that net profit attributable to ordinary shareholders decreased by 17 percent to EUR 68.2 million in the first quarter of 2014 compared to EUR 82.2 million during the corresponding period in 2013.

Net profit attributable to ordinary shareholders - excluding exceptional items - fell by 15 percent to EUR 68.2 million compared to EUR 79.9 million the previous year.

Group operating profit before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) decreased by 5 percent to EUR 180 million (Q1 2013: EUR 189 million). Adjusted for adverse currency effects (EUR 8 million), EBITDA decreased by 1 percent, mainly due to lower joint venture and operating results in the EMEA region.

EBIT decreased by 11 percent to EUR 124 million (Q1 2013: EUR 138 million). Adjusted for adverse currency effects (EUR 6 million) the decrease was 7 percent, mainly due to lower revenues combined with higher depreciation costs.

Earnings per ordinary share (EPS) decreased by 14% to EUR 0.54 (Q1 2013: EUR 0.63).

During the first quarter of 2014 storage capacity (including 100 percent for joint ventures and associates) increased by 0.5 million cubic metres (cbm) to a total of 31.0 million cbm.

Commenting on the results, Eelco Hoekstra, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Royal Vopak, said: "After the publication of the FY 2013 results, we have not seen major improvements in our business climate as we continue to face challenges, mainly in the EMEA region. We experience stable occupancy rates in Asia and the Americas and a solid performance of our LNG business. Our net profit development in the first quarter of 2014 is negatively affected by lower revenues, decreased results from participations and increased depreciation resulting from among others our recent expansion projects.

"In the first quarter of 2014, we realized an EBITDA -excluding exceptional items- of EUR 180 million. This is a 5 percent decrease compared to the same period in 2013 (EUR 189 million) and a 1 percent decrease when excluding adverse currency translation effects of EUR 8 million. In the remainder of 2014, we expect that some projects, which are planned to be commissioned, will weigh on the earnings per share development. This is caused by a phased build-up in the commercial occupancy of these projects. Assuming similar challenging business circumstances as we experienced in Q1, 2014 EBITDA is expected to be 5 percent to 10 percent lower than 2013 (EUR 753 million). "Although the current development of our financial performance can be explained by market challenges and uncertainties, it is not in line with our long-term ambitions. In 2014, as previously announced, Vopak has started a diligent review of the status and timing of all projects under consideration while accelerating the focus on further alignment of its global network with the current and future market developments. This includes among others reviewing the performance of our current terminals and exploring their potential for adding long-term value to our global terminal portfolio. In addition, we intensify our continuous focus on increasing efficiencies while improving service and safety. We will provide an update on our longer-term EBITDA ambition in the second half year of 2014.

"Overall, we remain confident that our terminal network provides a solid foundation for future performance. In the long run, we see growing imbalances in the world between supply and demand of energy products and chemicals, increasing global trade, the necessity for excellent supply chain solutions and the need for safe and reliable storage. We were pleased to announce new investments in China and Canada during the first quarter of 2014.These investments follow our strategy to further optimize our global terminal network in line with our forecasts for the long-term developments of product flows.

"We will continue to navigate our company through the current challenging business environment by maintaining our focus on optimizing net cash flows from operations and disciplined capital allocation.”

In its analysis of the future, Royal Vopak said: "Assuming similar challenging business circumstances as we experienced in Q1, 2014 EBITDA is expected to be 5 percent to 10 percent lower than 2013 (EUR 753 million). We will provide an update on our longer-term EBITDA ambition in the second half year of 2014, following among others a review of the performance of our current terminals and exploring their potential for adding long-term value to our global terminal portfolio. In addition, we intensify our continuous focus on increasing efficiencies while improving service and safety.

"Projects under development add 7.5 million cbm of storage capacity in the years up to and including 2017. The total investment for Vopak and partners in expansion projects is approximately EUR 1.7 billion, of which Vopak’s total remaining cash spend is approximately EUR 0.4 billion.