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Terminal operator Royal Vopak has confirmed that net profit attributable to owners of ordinary shares - excluding exceptional items - during the first quarter of 2015 increased by 24 percent to EUR 84.9 million, up from EUR 68.2 million the previous year.

Net profit including exceptional items jumped 78 percent to EUR 121.3 million, up from EUR 68.2 million in 2014.

Earnings per ordinary share (EPS) - excluding exceptional items - rose by 24 percent to EUR 0.67 (Q1 2014: EUR 0.54). Including exceptional items, earnings per ordinary share skyrocketed 76 percent to EUR 0.95 (Q1 2014: EUR 0.54).

Group operating profit (EBIT) excluding exceptional items was up by 16 percent to EUR 143.3 million (Q1 2014: EUR 123.8 million). Including exceptional items, group operating profit increased by 63 percent to EUR 202.4 million (Q1 2014: EUR 123.8 million).

Excluding exceptional items, group operating profit before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose by 15 percent in the first three months of 2015 to EUR 206.2 million, compared to EUR 179.6 million the previous year. Including exceptional items, the figure was up 48 percent to EUR 265.3 million on the EUR 179.6 million recorded in 2014.

During the first quarter of 2014, Vopak generated revenues of EUR 349.5 million - an increase of EUR 31.5 million or 10 percent compared to EUR 318.0 million during the corresponding period in 2014. The average occupancy rate for Vopak's subsidiaries (i.e. excluding joint ventures and associates) was 91 percent between January and March compared to 88 percent last year.

Commenting on the results, Eelco Hoekstra, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Royal Vopak, remarked: "In Q1 2015, we delivered improved financial results compared to the same period last year. This improvement was mainly driven by higher demand in the oil market, growth of our storage capacity and favourable currency effects.

"We were able to increase the overall occupancy rates while expanding our worldwide storage capacity to 34.0 million cbm. The higher occupancy rate in Europe was partially offset by lower occupancy rates in Asia and Americas due to the slowdown of economic growth and due to a dynamic and volatile spot market in Asia.

"Despite an overall increased demand for our storage and handling services in our well-positioned global network, the competitive and dynamic business environment in certain product-market combinations remained. In order to sustain and further strengthen our leading position as storage infrastructure provider in the major ports around the world, our undiminished focus on safety and services remains key to continue delivering value to our customers. Going forward, we will continue with the disciplined execution of our strategy and we will maintain our long-term focus on delivering stable returns and on free cash flow generation from our infrastructure portfolio.

"In line with our previous outlook and based on current market insights, we expect to realize an EBITDA -excluding exceptional items- in excess of EUR 768 million in 2015. This outlook takes into account factors such as our competitive and dynamic business environment, the potential decrease in EBITDA due to realization of earlier announced divestments and the implications of a phased introduction of new storage capacity expansions, including initial contributions from (to be) completed new projects."