Storage terminal operator
Royal Vopak on Friday confirmed that net profit attributable to owners of ordinary shares - excluding exceptional items - decreased by EUR 38,700, or
12 percent, to
EUR 287.4 million in 2017.
Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) also fell by
12 percent to
EUR 490.4 million, down from EUR 558.4 million in 2016.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) declined by
7 percent to
EUR 763.2 million, having been EUR 822.3 million during the previous calendar year.
Earnings per ordinary share (EPS) dropped 12 percent to EUR 2.25 in 2017.
Vopak's worldwide storage capacity increased by 1.2 million cubic metres (cbm) to
35.9 million cbm last year. Upon completion, projects currently under development are set to add
3.1 million cbm of storage capacity to the firm's global network by 2019.
Discussing the results,
Eelco Hoekstra, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Royal Vopak, said: "Despite challenging market conditions, particularly in the oil markets, and following a strong performance in 2016, we had a satisfactory performance in 2017. We aim to identify and seize growth opportunities swiftly, ensure timely completion of projects under development and step up the global roll-out of our new digital systems. These steps will improve our financial performance by 2019."
Commenting on the LNG market, Hoekstra remarked: "We will continue to explore and find new possibilities within the LNG infrastructure market to expand our role as a service provider in the LNG value chain."
Looking ahead, Vopak said: "Given the current 3.1 million cbm expansion program with high commercial coverage, in conjunction with the ongoing cost efficiency program,
Vopak has the potential to significantly improve the 2019 EBITDA, subject to market conditions and currency exchange movements."
