Bonheur, Fred Olsen’s cruise ship and wind vessel holding company, has posted a much bigger profit in the second quarter as activity increases.
The Oslo-listed firm said net profit was NOK 554m ($55m) to 30 June, versus NOK 161m a year ago.
Revenue grew to NOK 2.83bn from NOK 2.38bn.
The Wind Service operation posted Ebitda of NOK 320m from NOK 106m in 2022.
Revenue was up at NOK 1.26bn compared to NOK 846m in the previous year.
The contract backlog stands at €552m ($615m).
The three wind turbine installation vessels (WTIVs) had 98.6% utilisation.
The group controls Fred.Olsen Windcarrier (FOWIC), Global Wind Service (GWS) and Universal Foundation, with a 50% interest in United Wind Logistic (UWL) in Germany.
FOWIC owns 100% of the 132-loa Brave Tern (built 2012) and Bold Tern (built 2013) WTIVs, and 51% of the 151-loa Blue Tern (built 2012).
Positive outlook
“The market outlook for wind turbine installation vessels is positive, and the FOWIC vessels are close to being sold out for the period 2023 to 2026,” Bonheur said.
FOWIC is preparing for crane replacement and upgrades for the Brave Tern.
The crane has been ordered and the yard contract has been signed. The ship will then have the same capabilities as the Bold Tern and be able to install next-generation turbines.
The project is planned to be undertaken in 2024.
UWL owns and operates three wind-farm maintenance vessels. Two are on three-year contracts with MHI Vestas, and the third operates in the spot market. All three racked up 100% utilisation in the quarter.
Three of four cruise ships operating
Bonheur also owns four cruise ships, one of which was in lay-up in the quarter.
Ebitda was NOK 132m, turning around a loss of NOK 42m in 2022.
Cruise revenue was up at NOK 855m, against NOK 580m the year before.
The occupancy rate was 69%, up from 58% a year ago.
Bunker costs were reduced by £5m ($6.5m) year-on-year.
The company is seeing increased demand for cruises in 2023 and 2024.
Bonheur is the owner of TradeWinds’ parent media company NHST, which posted unchanged Ebitda of NOK 23m.
