Vopak shares jump after Dutch tank terminal operator posts Q3 earnings beat

By Scott Kanowsky 

Investing.com -- Koninklijke Vopak NV (AS:VOPA) shares surged towards the top of the pan-European Stoxx 600 on Friday after the Dutch industrial storage company reported a jump in third quarter core income despite rising energy costs.

The Rotterdam-based company posted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of €659 million for the three-month period, a rise of 7.32%. Revenues also increased by 10.84% to €1.01B.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley and ING said both the top and bottom line tallies beat their estimates, thanks in particular to growth in tank terminal occupancy rates to 89% from 87% quarter-on-quarter. This helped offset an uptick in expenses to €522M that mostly stemmed from soaring energy prices and foreign exchange effects.

“Our strong third quarter performance demonstrates that our well diversified infrastructure portfolio uniquely positions Vopak to serve our customers amidst highly uncertain times," said chief executive officer Dick Richelle in a statement.

Vopak subsequently improved its full-year guidance for core profit excluding exceptional items. The group now expects the measure to come in around €890M, up from its prior outlook of between €830M-850M.

However, the estimate for annual costs was revised higher as well to €710M from €690M.