Bureau Veritas has increased its earnings from shipping as new orders roll in.
The classification society’s chief executive, Hinda Gharbi, said it had been drawing on a healthy and growing sales pipeline, high customer demand for “new economy services” and strong underlying market growth.
Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore was boosted in particular from sustained trends in decarbonisation and the energy transition, BV added.
The operation’s revenue in the first six months was up at €251.3m ($273m) from €228.6m in the previous half-year.
Adjusted operating profit rose to €61.6m, against €56.5m the year before.
The division was among the strongest performing in the group, with organic growth of 14.7%.
There was a “strong double-digit” increase in new construction work in a “buoyant” shipbuilding market, BV said.
New orders accelerated, despite some capacity constraints at shipyards, the company added.
BV secured 7.4m gt of new ships by the end of June 2024, bringing the orderbook to 26 gt, up 27.5% compared to 20.4m gt a year ago.
This was driven by LNG-fuelled ships and specialised vessels.
Retrofitting popular
Double-digit growth was also seen in core in-service activity, with retrofitting and upgrading work rising to meet environmental regulations.
As of 30 June, the classed fleet had reached 11,894 ships, up 2.7% year on year and representing 151.7m gt.
“The division continues to benefit from multi-year growth momentum as the maritime industry decarbonises, renews its fleet and becomes more energy efficient,” the group added.
BV’s overall revenue of €3bn was up 4%.
Group net profit was €234.m, up from €232.5m in 2023.
BV pointed to the “ongoing execution” of its new strategy to deliver a “step change” in growth and performance.
The acquisitive group has completed four takeovers of smaller companies so far this year, adding €41m of revenue in cyber security and consumer products services technology.
BV is also talked of as a potential consolidator in the maritime class sector.
Gharbi added that the company is “actively managing our portfolio through an accelerated M&A programme”.
“In addition, we have completed our €200m share buyback programme announced in March 2024,” the CEO said.
For the full year, BV is predicting high single-digit organic revenue growth, revised up from mid-to-high single-digit previously.
