UPDATE 3-Boskalis raises profit outlook, headwinds loom
* Now expects 2009 net profit of 215 million euros
* Rationalising its fleet due to expected fall in demand
* Expects healthy utilisation in 2009 and large part of 2010
* Shares down 1.5 percent
(Adds spokesman's comments, updates shares)
AMSTERDAM, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Dutch dredger Boskalis Westminster (BOSN.AS) raised its 2009 profit target on Tuesday on stable energy contracts, but headwinds loom due to slowed port infrastructure investment and rising industry capacity.
Boskalis, the world's largest dredger, said its order book in early November was comparable with the 3 billion euros ($4.5 billion) at the end of the first-half.
It expects full-year net profit of at least 215 million euros, up from a previous guidance of about 205 million.
"I still expect to see lower revenues. Demand pressures are increasing and capacity is increasing, and there should be some pricing pressure and pressure on profits," SNS Securities analyst Edwin de Jong said.
Boskalis shares were down 1.5 percent at 26.25 euros by 1129 GMT, underperforming a 0.5 percent rise in the Amsterdam AEX index .AEX. Boskalis shares are up 58 percent this year.
"The utilisation of both the hopper and cutter fleet was also slightly up in the third quarter," Boskalis said, as it reported higher sales than a year earlier.
Due to the current high fleet utilisation, Boskalis, a late-cyclical company, said the first hoppers and cutters were not expected to be decommissioned before the second half of 2010 as part of a rationalisation programme launched in anticipation of lower dredging volumes due to the recession.
Dredgers had benefited from a rise in world trade and population as well as expanding energy consumption in recent years, but the global recession hit commodity prices and trade, reducing demand for dredging services.
OIL AND GAS 'RESILIENT'
Despite the recession, Boskalis expects 2.2 billion euros in sales for the full year, up from last year's record 2.1 billion.
It has won several major assignments recently, mainly in the oil and gas sector, including a 500 million euro contract to build a port for the Gorgon LNG project in Western Australia, which involves a large amount of non-dredging activities.
Boskalis spokesman Martijn Schuttevaer said the oil and gas sector was still the most resilient of its markets, but the firm was seeing a slowdown in demand for port infrastructure works.
Schuttevaer said demand from government-run ports was steady, but the slowdown in demand from privately-owned ports seen since September last year due to financing problems and a slowdown in shipping trade had not changed.
"It's really the private operators who are being hesitant to invest in new port infrastructure," he said.
Belgian rival Ackermans & van Haaren (ACKB.BR) said on Monday the order book for its dredger DEME was 2.08 billion euros, down from 2.13 billion in June, adding the economic crisis still called for great caution. [ID:nLG13403]
Boskalis said last week it would buy Dutch maritime services company Smit Internationale (SMTNc.AS) for 1.1 billion euros to further expand in the oil services industry, ending more than a year of on-and-off talks between the companies. (Editing by David Cowell) ($1 = 0.6685 euro)
