Dredging group Boskalis booked a record net profit of almost €250m last year, a 20% increase on 2007.

‘2008 was also a year with two faces,’ said CEO Peter Berdowski in a statement. A year in which the first half was characterized by boisterous market growth, while the final quarter saw the global economic stage – and with it the landscape of the dredging industry – change drastically.’
The company said it could not provide a forecast for 2009 because of the project-based nature of its work but said it did expect ‘2009 earnings will be lower than the record levels achieved in 2008’.