Dredging giant Boskalis said on Thursday net profit fell almost 50% to €107m in the first half of this year and that it expected to book similar results in the second half.

Full-year sales wil be similar to 2008, when turnover reached €2.2bn, the company said in a statement.
Boskalis, the world’s largest dredging group, said last year’s net profit was boosted by a €92m one-off.
‘Despite difficult economic times we turned in a strong performance in the first half of the year,’ CEO Peter Berdowski said. ‘It is owing to this strong order book that we continue to have a positive outlook on the rest of 2009. The outlook for the period thereafter is less clear.’