Posted on May 26, 2025
Jan might be new as CFO, but with more than 25 years of experience he knows the company inside out. For ten years, he collaborated on projects abroad, from the Middle East to South America. This was followed by more than 15 years in which he directed the works in Latin America from our office in Aalst. How does he look back on 2024? And what does 2025 have in store for us? You will find out his five main conclusions below.
Resilient against geopolitical tensions
“2024 has once again been a year with strong geopolitical tensions and economic insecurities. But in spite of this, Jan De Nul achieved a fantastic year results-wise. This gives us confidence for the future, even though global tensions, fuelled by increasing protectionism, continue in 2025.”
Fantastic results across all our business units
“For the first time in the history of our company we passed the 4 billion euro turnover mark. That is a 36% increase compared to the 2023 turnover. Our departments Dredging Solutions and Offshore Energy were active all over the world, with projects on all continents. Together, they generated 77% of our turnover. Our departments Construction Projects and Planet Redevelopment also witnessed a considerable growth with a turnover increasing to 900 million euros. We can be proud that all divisions contribute to the strong turnover increase. The same upward trend is also visible in other key figures, such as the EBITDA having risen to 777 million euros and the net profit having risen to an alltime high of 409 million euros.”
Jan Neckebroeck
Negative net debt, despite major investments
“Once again, 2024 has been a year marked by major investments in our fleet and land equipment. Among others, we ordered a second XL cablelaying vessel, our first plug-in hybrid dredging vessel and put great effort in the electrification of our machinery. In spite of this, we managed to present a negative net debt. This financial strength enables us to invest even further in the most innovative fleet and advanced land equipment. 2025 will again be a key year in that respect.”
Largest order book in our history
“An important parameter which lets us look forward to the future with confidence, is the size of our order book. At the end of 2024, our portfolio included signed contracts worth 9.55 billion euros. That is a record. The spread of those future works is nicely divided over our different areas of expertise.”
“For instance, we began dredging works to create new ports in Spain,Senegal, and India, while tirelessly continuing our dredging activities in the Middle East and South America. Within our department Offshore Energy we are taking important steps as well. We initiate long-term contracts with big players, deploying our newest installation vessels, such as Les Alizés. At the same time, our cable-laying and rock installation vessels are heavily occupied. With regard to our Construction Projects, the construction of the energy island in the Belgian North Sea is entering a new phase, and soon we will also be installing the tunnel elements of the Scheldt Tunnel for the Oosterweel Link.”
Our more than 8,000 World Builders are our biggest asset
“This company is ready for the future. And to a large extent, we owe this to our more than 8,000 World Builders. Our Can-Do mentality drives us to keep investing and to complete even the most challenging projects successfully. It remains our greatest asset. That is why in 2025 we will also keep investing in the health and wellbeing of our people, with our four new internal programmes which will be rolled out in 2025. We will reinforce our safety culture with our internal programme S.A.F.E., invest in growth opportunities and knowledge sharing through LEARN, stimulate healthy living and working with FIT and help building a sustainable future through SHIFT.”
