Boskalis Annual Report 2020

4

CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT

ANNUAL REPORT 2020 – BOSKALIS paramount, the projects had to continue as much as possible, costs had to be reduced where possible, investments were postponed and the order book had to stay filled. To do that, we had to ask a lot from our colleagues in terms of flexibility and loyalty. And in We immediately established a crisis agenda that has been guiding our policy since. The health and safety of our people was The year 2020 has been exceptional in many ways. At the beginning of March we presented our new Corporate Business Plan for 2020-2022, which was based on a gradual market recovery and an upward trend. We were also positive about the longer term as we expect Boskalis to make a relevant contribution to solutions for the challenges of the future; in the fields of infrastructure, the energy transition and the protection of coastal regions from climate change. Our positive mindset was however bluntly crushed by the coronavirus mid-March. In one strike, our view of the world was turned upside down. Lockdown measures were announced across the globe, working from home became the norm, the aviation industry came to a grinding halt and, as a consequence, keeping our projects and vessels around the world operational and staffed became an unprecedented challenge.

particular from everyone on the projects and the vessels. Longer periods on board and on the projects, longer travelling times and tough quarantine restrictions. The demands on the colleagues in the offices were also hard, with most colleagues working from home. Looking at where we stand today, and looking back at 2020, I can genuinely confess that I am proud of how we have weathered the corona-storm. In part thanks to the measures taken we have ended the year with a revenue of EUR 2.5 billion, EBITDA of EUR 404 million and a historically high order book of EUR 5.3 billion. At the same time, we were able to substantially improve our strong financial position boasting a net cash of EUR 439 million as per year end. DREDGING & INLAND INFRA In the Dredging & Inland Infra division the Duqm mega project was completed last year. A long quay wall and two long jetties were constructed in a temporary polder and a huge port area has been reclaimed alongside. In Saudi Arabia we also completed two major dredging projects. In Singapore, the large Finger Pier 3 project is in full swing and we have been working on the third and final season in Kitimat, Canada, where an LNG export terminal is being built.