Tank storage group Vopak's quarterly profit slips as currency effects weigh (updated)

Koninklijke Vopak NV

22/04/2026 06:26

Adds map showing Vopak's terminals in the Middle East. Recasts with consensus comparison, adds analyst comment in paragraph 5, shares in paragraph 7, CFO comments and Middle East details in paragraphs 8-10.

Vopak's Q1 core profit falls 1.8% but beats market expectations

Company confirms 2026 outlook despite Middle East uncertainty

Shares rise about 3% in early trading

By Hugo Lhomedet and Jerome Terroy

April 22 (Reuters) - Tank storage firm Vopak VOPA.AS said on Wednesday it expected the financial impact from the war in the Middle East to be limited, after its core profit fell 1.8% in the first quarter but beat market expectations.

The Dutch company reported proportional earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 294.6 million euros ($345.9 million), while analysts in a company-compiled consensus were expecting 286 million euros on average.

Vopak, which operates over 70 terminals in more than 20 countries, confirmed its 2026 outlook, including proportional EBITDA of 1.15 billion to 1.20 billion euros, but said this was subject to market uncertainties and currency movements.

The Rotterdam-based company said the quarterly results were not materially impacted by the Middle East conflict and it expects its diversified portfolio of locations, products and contracts to absorb any financial impact within its annual targets.

This diversification helps Vopak cope with the still volatile markets it operates in, brokerage KBC Securities said in a note to investors.

The company's proportional occupancy rate, its key utilisation metric, was 91% in the first quarter, slightly down from last year's 92%.

Its shares gained around 3% in early Amsterdam trading.

MIDDLE EAST IMPACT

A prolonged and more severe Middle East conflict would push Vopak's core profit towards the bottom of its guidance range, while a swift resolution could prove an upside, finance chief Michiel Gilsing told Reuters.

"Nobody could have predicted that we would be in this situation two months ago as a world. So there's still a lot of uncertainty about how the conflict will evolve," Gilsing said in the interview.

Vopak operates three terminals across the Middle East, straddling two of the world's most critical oil shipping lanes.

($1 = 0.8517 euros)

Vopak's Middle East terminals caught in the crossfire https://www.reuters.com/graphics/VOPAK-MIDDLE%20EAST/lgpdgqlmrvo/chart.png

(Reporting by Hugo Lhomedet and Jerome Terroy in Gdansk; Editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)

((hugo.lhomedet@thomsonreuters.com))