Highlights for the year 2014 -excluding exceptional items-:
- EBITDA increased by 1% to EUR 763 million (2013: EUR 753 million), in line with the earlier indicated outlook to exceed EUR 740 million.
- EBIT decreased by 2% to EUR 524 million (2013: EUR 536 million).
- Net profit attributable to holders of ordinary shares decreased also by 6% to EUR 294 million (2013: EUR 312 million) and earnings per ordinary share (EPS) also decreased by 6% to EUR 2.31 (2013: EUR 2.45).
- Vopak’s worldwide storage capacity increased during 2014 on a 100% basis by 3.3 million cbm to 33.8 million cbm.
A dividend of EUR 0.90 (2013: EUR 0.90) per ordinary share, payable in cash, will be proposed to the Annual General Meeting on 22 April 2015.
Exceptional items:
- During 2014, a net exceptional loss before interest and tax, of EUR 55 million (2013: EUR 3 million) was recognized, due to, among others, impairments (EUR 53 million) and organizational alignments as a result of the actions arising from the business review as reported on 2 July 2014.
Outlook -excluding exceptional items-:
- Following Vopak’s 2014 EBITDA of EUR 763 million we expect, on the basis of current market insights, to realize an EBITDA -excluding exceptional items- that exceeds the 2012 results of EUR 768 million in 2015, instead of 2016, as previously announced.
- Vopak operates 33.8 million cbm of storage capacity, with another 6.2 million cbm under development, to be added in the period up to an including 2019. The total investment for Vopak and partners in expansion projects involves capital expenditure of some EUR 3.3 billion, of which Vopak’s total remaining cash spend will amount to approximately EUR 0.5 billion.
Eelco Hoekstra, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Royal Vopak:
“In 2014, our dedicated staff delivered solid financial results under dynamic market circumstances.
We continued our strong safety performance, improved our service levels for our customers and we made progress in reducing our operational costs through various efficiency initiatives.
We were particularly proud of the acquisition of the Canterm terminals in Canada, the acquisition of a 30% equity interest in the Haiteng terminal in China and the conclusion of the shareholder agreement with partners PETRONAS and Dialog to jointly develop an industrial terminal in Pengerang, Malaysia, towards 2019.
The year remained challenging with additional storage capacity added by competitors in specific product-market combinations and continued geopolitical uncertainty. However, in Q4 we noticed a continuation of some positive developments such as short-term business opportunities related to the developments in oil prices and favorable foreign exchange rate movements compared to our initial estimates made during the first half of the year 2014.
Looking ahead towards 2015 and beyond, we will continue to execute our strategy, which we updated in 2014, by further aligning our global terminal network and by improving our safe service delivery for our customers. We will continue adapting ourselves to structural changes in global product flows resulting from growing imbalances, we will focus on further improving Vopak’s competitive position, and we will aim to increase free cash flow generation to support the value creation ambitions throughout the company.
We are determined and energized to achieve these long-term goals safely, diligently and with discipline.”