World News
Bunker Holding to Be Presented With Potential Acquisition Case Next Week
Bunker Holding, the world's largest marine fuels firm, may be in the run-up to making its first large-scale acquisition since OceanConnect Marine.
The firm's executive management team is set to be presented with a potential acquisition case next week, CEO Keld Demant told Ship & Bunker on Friday.
The potential acquisition case is of a firm not in the top ten in the world, but perhaps the top 20.
"As with many other mid-sized companies, they have not been able to invest fully in ESG, so they want to tap into our comprehensive systems," Demant said.
In 2020 Bunker Holding subsidiary KPI Bridge Oil merged with OceanConnect Marine, with the two brands being brought together as KPI OceanConnect. The firm also acquired brokerage LQM in 2015.
More recently but on a smaller scale, Bunker Holding parent company USTC acquired digital brokerage BunkerEx in March 2021. The firm has recently been rebranded as Maritime IntelX.
Strong bunker margins have limited Bunker Holding's appetite for acquisitions in recent years because they made the price of potential acquisitions too high, Demant said.
The company is heading for an 'average' 2024/25 result, Demant said, with an average year historically meaning operating profit somewhere around $50-75 million.
The firm reported profit before tax of $127 million from continuing operations in the year to April 30, 2024, down from $222.7 million a year earlier. The 2023/24 figure does not include a loss of about $125 million from the shutting-down of its PSTV Cargo onshore cargo trading firm dealing in Africa.
About Jack Jordan
Jack Jordan is the Managing Editor of Ship & Bunker, the world’s most read marine fuel-focused publication.
He is an experienced financial editor and reporter with a first-class degree in Arabic and Russian, a postgraduate diploma in newspaper journalism and several years' history of covering the oil and shipping industries and capital markets.
Jack is based in London, UK.
About Ship & Bunker
Ship & Bunker is the world's most read publication focused on the marine fuel markets. Completely independent, it is the leading industry authority providing comprehensive daily news, exclusive in-depth features and analysis, along with daily & historical bunker price indications.
To contact the editor responsible for this story email us at editor@shipandbunker.com
Key Bunker Prices More
| VLSFO | MGO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $/mt | +/- | $/mt | +/- | |
| Singapore | 576.00 | 2.50 | 692.50 | 0.50 |
| Rotterdam | 539.50 | 1.50 | 677.00 | 2.00 |
| Houston | 549.00 | 6.50 | 728.50 | 1.00 |
| Fujairah | 571.00 | 2.00 | 768.00 | 1.00 |
| Global 20 Ports Average | 595.50 | 2.00 | 785.00 | 1.00 |
| Global 4 Ports Average | 559.00 | 1.00 | 716.50 | 0.00 |
| Global Average Bunker Price | 642.50 | 0.50 | 832.50 | 2.00 |
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