Bureau Veritas has logged record earnings with its marine division emerging as one of its best-performing businesses.
The French testing, certification and inspection giant saw net profit rise by 7.9% in 2023 to €503.7m ($547.8m).
The result was boosted by strong growth in its global markets, substantially outperforming many underlying markets
Revenue rose 3.8% to €5.8bn.
The Paris-based company said its marine and offshore business saw organic growth of over 14% and was among the best-performing businesses.
Operating profit for the marine unit was €108.6m last year, up 7.8% year on year.
Revenue for the marine unit rose 8.9% to €455.7m.
The marine division saw double-digit organic growth in core in-service, led by sustained high level of occasional surveys of old ships.
This was combined with price increases and the growth of the classed fleet, which rose to 11,705 ships, representing 148.7m gt.
New orders reached 9.3m gt, up 11.4%. These mainly comprise LNG-fuelled ships, container ships and specialised vessels.
Positive outlook
The Hinda Gharbi-led group expects to turn in a strong performance this year.
Gharbi, who took over as chief executive in June, flagged a healthy and growing sales pipeline, high customer demand for “new economy services” and strong underlying market growth.
That should deliver mid-to-high single-digit organic revenue growth.
“For 2024, we expect Bureau Veritas to deliver another strong year of organic revenue growth, margin expansion and strong cash conversion.”
“Specifically, we expect powerful demand for services supporting the transition to sustainable development models, evolving buildings integrity needs, growing infrastructure investment and increased spending in low-carbon energy development,” Gharbi said.
“Our current pipeline of opportunities in these business areas is a testament to this durable growth dynamic.”
The sector is benefiting from strong decarbonisation trends in marine and offshore and the rising demand for sustainability and environmental, social and corporate governance-driven services.
Bureau Veritas was selected towards the end of 2023 to class the world’s largest ammonia carriers for Greek owner Naftomar Shipping & Trading to be built by South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean.
