Record result for Blue Water

The annual accounts for Blue Water Holding, which comprises the transport group’s total activities, showed a magnificent profit of 25,7 m EUR before tax for 2019. This is an improvement of just over 24 m EUR compared to last year, where the result before tax was 1,3 m EUR. The turnover increased by DKK 112 m EUR and consequently rose from 746 m EUR to 858 m EUR which is a 15 percent rise.

”We are very satisfied with this record result which shows a significant rise in turnover and bottom line. We are in particular satisfied that we, through dedicated efforts, have managed to improve operations by optimising and enhancing the efficiency of our business parallel with maintaining a high level of quality and customer service”, says Blue Water’s CEO Søren Nørgaard Thomsen.

The Blue Water Group’s Energy & Projects Division is the primary reason for the record result. This division is in the process of executing several major logistics contracts in connection with the extension of the Tengiz Oil Field in Kazakhstan. These projects commenced a few years ago and will run until 2021.

Core activities, such as Reefer Sea, Port Services, Wind Logistics and Marine Logistics, have also contributed positively towards the annual result. At the same time, the progress of the general Road, Sea and Air transport continues through optimisations and consolidations of the operation.

“Blue Water has a solid core business, and the individual divisions have all developed positively in 2019. This contributes to stressing the fact that our transport and logistics services are in high demand. We have a reputation for developing our solutions on an ongoing basis, and we shall continue this process as this is vital for maintaining and strengthening our position in the market”, says Søren Nørgaard Thomsen.

Sensible start of 2020

A new strategy is another essential factor for the future development. The new strategy was implemented during the second half of 2019, and hence the entire group and the individual business segments are even more well prepared for the coming years. This strategy is, in particular, based on a continued strong customer focus as well as enhancement of business processes and optimisation of the operation. This contributes to positive expectations to the annual result, however, due to the COVID-19 situation, there is some uncertainty about the financial result for the year.

“We finished first quarter with nice figures – ahead of budget and ahead of last year. But during March, the level of activity dropped in some parts of our business, and as we do not know the time horizon for a normalisation of the world, we are more cautious about this year’s result, which in addition to COVID-19 may be negatively affected if the low oil price continues. As a company, we are well positioned for handling the current crisis and the opportunities that may present themselves. However, we are dependent on how fast and to what extent the business community gets back to business. This raises some uncertainty about the year’s result which, however, is expected to be 7-18 m EUR”, says Søren Nørgaard Thomsen.

Blue Water’s Founder and Chairman of the Board, Kurt Skov, is also extremely satisfied with 2019.

“It has always been a pleasure to see how our employees every single day make sure that the customers are being serviced with strong transport solutions. In recent years, we have not fulfilled our expectations for profit, and we can therefore be very proud of this magnificent result which contributes to the continued development of Blue Water”, says Kurt Skov.

Kurt Skov is also pleased that his daughter Anne Skov joined the ownership last year. This took place in connection with a generational handover, where a major shareholding in Kurt Skov Holding was transferred to her. Kurt Skov Holding owns 25 percent of the Blue Water Group. The remaining 75 percent are owned by the Blue Water Foundation.

The Blue Water Group employs approx. 1750 people at 63 offices worldwide.

The company is headquartered in Esbjerg where it was founded in 1972 by Kurt Skov, who is now the Chairman of the Board.

Blue Water carries out activities within the business segments: Energy & Projects, General Cargo: Sea, Air & Road, Wind Logistics, Port Services, Reefer Logistics and Marine Logistics