Vopak has reported increased profits in the first quarter. The company’s EBITDA rose to €215 million from €190 million last year. According to Vopak, the profit increase is related to currency effects and contributions from partnerships.

Turnover amounted to €324.6 million, compared to €316.2 million in the first quarter last year. The company itself speaks of “strong” financial performance in the recent period. The utilisation rate of the storage tanks was 86 percent compared to 87 percent a year ago.

Vopak recently sold terminals in Amsterdam, Hamburg and the Spanish Algeciras to First State Investments. An interest in a subsidiary in Estonia was also sold. According to Vopak, this is a new step in the implementation of the strategy. At the same time, Vopak is expanding its storage capacity at other locations. 1.9 million cbm was added in the first quarter, and an additional 1.3 million cbm will be added later this year.

Its associate industrial terminal PT2SB in Malaysia commissioned additional capacity of 718,000 cbm, bringing the total commissioned capacity to 1,460,000 cbm while the greenfield terminal Bahia Las Minas in Panama commissioned an initial capacity of 120,000 cbm. The remaining capacity of 240,000 cbm will be commissioned before the end of 2019.

Financial director Gerard Paulides of Vopak stated in an explanation that the company will decide what will happen with the proceeds from the transactions after completion of those divestments. The completion must take place later this year.

Growth investments amount to approximately €1 billion for the period 2017-2019. Vopak is well positioned to grow its global terminal portfolio in line with long-term market developments and targets 1 to 3 industrial terminal opportunities and 1 to 3 gas investment opportunities in 2019-2020.

For more information visit www.vopak.com

17th April 2019