Sif’s 2016 Figures Go Up

Sif Group reported a revenue of EUR 400.3 million for 2016, a 24.6% increase from EUR 321.3 million in 2015, with the company’s net earnings rising by 5% from EUR 35.6 million in 2015 to EUR 37.4 million last year. The company’s net debt also increased, but mainly due to building new facilities that will lead to Sif having a production capacity of 300 Ktons per year.

Jan Bruggenthijs, CEO of Sif, said: “Sif has focused on the production of monopiles for offshore windfarms since the turn of the millennium. Interest in sustainable energy has gradually increased and the number of offshore wind projects is growing steadily. With Levelized Costs of Energy (LCOE) dropping well below the 2020 target of € 100 per kwh, 2016 can be considered a breakthrough year for wind farm projects.”

“With the delivery of foundations and transition pieces for projects like Galloper, Rampion and Dudgeon, Sif now ranks among the largest suppliers of monopiles for wind farms.”

The 2016 contribution – revenue excluding the cost of raw materials, subcontracted work, logistic and other external project-related charges –amounted to EUR 129.5 million, compared to EUR 100.5 million in 2015. The increase was mainly driven by exceptionally high production volumes throughout the first three quarters of 2016, which almost reached the maximum production capacity for the wind business, Sif said. According to the company’s results, the contribution in Q4 2016 was at EUR 30.9 million, same as in Q4 2015, and Sif pointed out that the start-up of the Rotterdam plant had an impact on last year’s figures.

The EUR 90 million investment program that Sif implemented in 2016 when constructing the new plant in Maasvlakte 2, as well as new offices in Roermond, largely contributed to the increase of the company’s net debt, which went from approx. EUR 27 million at the end of 2015 to approx. EUR 42 million at the end of 2016.

Nevertheless, these investments will increase the annual capacity from 225 Kton to 300 Kton in the course of 2017, according to Sif, whose production capacity in 2016 reached 191 Kton and the company already has 210 Kton in its order book for 2017 and 98 Kton for 2018.

On 2 January 2017, the first load-out of monopiles manufactured in the new Maasvlakte 2 plant marked the technical completion of the new facility. In the second half of 2017, the second production line in Maasvlakte will become operational and the upgrading of Sif’s production capacity to 300 Kton per annum will be complete.

Another increase that the company saw last year is the number of employees. Sif had a 620-strong workforce at the end of 2016, an increase of 22.5% compared to 506 in 2015. Of the 620 employees, 223 are permanent staff.

Looking ahead, Bruggenthijs said: “For the longer term we foresee further growth and healthy market conditions. The development of XL monopiles supports scale growth in offshore wind farms. Sif is well positioned to benefit from the longer term market growth.”

“Viewed on a year-to-year basis, utilization and results may be volatile. This is a characteristic of the project environment in which Sif is active: new projects involve large investments and complicated political or commercial decision processes. The shift of the anticipated grid connection of French and Dutch projects from 2020 to 2021 illustrates this. This will affect the wind farm supply-chain. In 2017 we will focus on the acquisition of projects matching our production schedule for 2018 and on measures that further strengthen our organization and cost- structure,” Sif’s CEO explained.

By Armin Fazlić, Offshore WIND Staff