Oslo-based holding company Bonheur is reporting a profitable fourth quarter for its renewable energy and wind farm services company, but a losing year in cruise.
The Fred Olsen-family controlled organisation is also the controlling shareholder in DN Media Group, which publishes TradeWinds.
The outlook for the wind installation fleet of subsidiary Fred Olsen Windcarrier (FOW) is bright despite the failure of an attempted IPO last year, with its three ships “close to being sold out for the period 2023 to 2026”, the company told shareholders.
But one vessel — the 15,300-gt Brave Tern (built 2012) — is set for an upgrade that will take it out of service during 2024.
Fully consolidated companies of Oslo-listed Bonheur made a full-year 2022 net result after tax of NOK 1.72bn ($166m) on operating revenues of NOK 11.44bn. That was strongly up from NOK 434m on NOK 7.54bn in 2021.
The net result after tax for the fourth quarter was NOK 732m on operating revenues of NOK 3.36bn.
Of the net result for the quarter, NOK 334m is attributable to shareholders of the parent company and NOK 398m to non-controlling interests.
Both bottom and top-line figures were up from the corresponding period of 2021, when Bonheur turned in a net result after tax of NOK 637m on operating revenues of NOK 2.71bn.
The board has proposed paying out NOK 213m as a quarterly dividend, or NOK 5 per share.
The lion’s share of earnings in the final three months of 2022 came from the renewable energy segment, which contributed NOK 1.02bn of consolidated companies’ total Ebitda of NOK 1.29bn in the quarter ending 31 December. That segment performance is only slightly down from 2021.
The related maritime segment of wind services, including the three ships of Oslo-based FOW and a 50% stake in German-based United Wind Logistics (UWL) among other holdings, also performed strongly and contributed NOK 405m of quarterly Ebitda thanks to 99% and 100% vessel utilisation respectively in FOW and UWL.
Spilling red ink
That is an improved result from the fourth quarter of 2021, when one FOW wind installation vessel was in the yard for an upgrade.
But the cruise segment, including UK-based Fred Olsen Cruise Line, was a negative component last quarter, turning in an Ebitda loss of NOK 85m, which Bonheur blames on bunker costs and ships out of service.
As TradeWinds has previously reported, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines put the 24,300-gt, 929-passenger Braemar (built 1993) up for sale in November 2022.
Bonheur’s investment segments also lost money, with a NOK 51m fourth-quarter loss for the business units Fred Olsen 1848, which invests in floating wind and floating solar energy technology, and Fred Olsen Investments, which makes smaller investments in renewables.
But Bonheur’s media investments remained in the black. The niche media company NHST Media — now renamed DN Media Group — turned in NOK 13m for the quarter, down from NOK 21m a year earlier.
Bonheur chief financial officer Richard Aa did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
