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ON THE RIGHT PATH
ROYAL VOPAK HAS reported full-year revenues of €1.25bn for 2019, virtually flat on the figure for 2018. Profitability, however, has increased significantly, boosted by contributions from new assets, positive currently movements and the effect of the new IFRS 16 accounting standards. Excluding exceptional items, group EBITDA
The year was, however, not without its headwinds. Vopak is still experiencing low demand at its oil hub terminals in Europe and Singapore and, overall, tank occupancy was down from 86 per cent in 2018 to 84 per cent, though the company notes an upturn in capacity use in the fourth quarter as capacity
for Vopak. We executed our strategy, realised strong EBITDA and significantly increased earnings per share. Over the years 2017-2019, we have been transforming our portfolio through €700m of divestments and €1bn of investments in new growth projects. We successfully divested almost 5m m³ of oil capacity, mainly in Europe, and bolstered our hub positions. We prepared our oil hub terminals for IMO 2020 and expanded storage capacity in future growth markets. In 2019, we expanded our LNG business in Pakistan and Colombia and started the construction of new industrial terminals in China and the US. Our portfolio is well-positioned for future developments. As part of our new energies focus, we made our first investments in
increased by 13 per cent to €829.8m, with net profit attributable to shareholders up 24 per cent at €357.8m. As a result of this improvement, Vopak has announced a 5 per cent increase in dividends together with a €100m share buyback programme.
came back onstream at some sites after being taken out of service for conversion to cope with the changes in bunker fuel standards after the introduction of the ‘IMO 2020’ rule. Commenting on the results, CEO Eelco Hoekstra says: “2019 was a successful year
hydrogen and solar. “Delivery of our digital strategy has progressed well,” Hoekstra continues. “We continued the roll-out of our new cloud-based system for our terminals, as part of broader efforts to develop our digital architecture. Growing Vopak’s digital capabilities and using
RESULTS • VOPAK HAD A PROFITABLE 2019, INDICATING THAT ITS STRATEGY TO FOCUS ON LIGHTER FUELS IS TAKING THE COMPANY IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
HCB MONTHLY | MARCH 2020
