Financial terms

Amortisation: Depreciation of intangible fixed assets such as goodwill.

Audit & Risk Committee: A committee comprising members of the Supervisory Board whose main task is to advise the Supervisory Board on its supervisory role with regard to the company’s financial affairs and reporting, risk management and compliance.

Dutch GAAP: The generally accepted accounting principles for financial reporting in the Netherlands (Dutch Annual Reporting Guidelines and the statutory provisions on annual reporting as laid down in Part 9, Book 2, of the Dutch Civil Code).

EBIT: Earnings before interest and taxes.

EBITDA: Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation.

Hedging: Offsetting all or part of a financial risk in an investment by means of another investment.

Net debt: The net amount of (interest-bearing) short-term and long-term bank loans, minus cash at bank and in hand.

Order book: The value of revenue on projects that Van Oord has been awarded, including those subject to financial close, but has yet to carry out.

Return on capital employed: EBIT divided by average capital employed, i.e. total assets less tangible fixed assets under construction and current liabilities.

Return on equity: Net profit divided by average equity.

Solvency: Equity divided by balance sheet total, i.e. fixed and current assets.

General terms

Balance of Plant: All the work that necessarily precedes the installation of a wind turbine, for example construction of the foundations and the cable base.

Biodiversity & Ecosystems: Refers to the variety of life that can be found on earth (plants, animals, fungi and micro-organisms), which is essential for a sustainable planet. Biodiversity provides functioning ecosystems that supply e.g. oxygen, clean air and water.

Building with Nature: A design approach that harnesses the forces of nature to benefit environment, economy and society. The approach results in resilient, multi-functional, innovative designs tailored to the local context that deliver across the range of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS): Capturing harmful CO₂ emissions from industrial processes at their source and transporting and storing emissions to prevent their release into the atmosphere.

Circularity: The focus on the transition to a circular economy, aimed at eliminating waste and the continual reuse of resources. The circular system focuses on recycling and renewable materials to create a closed-loop system, minimising the creation of waste, pollution and carbon emissions.

Climate change adaptation: The process by which societies reduce vulnerability to climate change or take advantage of the opportunities offered by a changing climate. 

Climate change mitigation: Measures intended to limit the magnitude and/or speed of global warming, typically by reducing human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.

CSRD: Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, the new EU rules for large companies and listed companies concerning the reporting on environmental, social and governance (ESG) information.

Cumulative renewable energy capacity installed: Cumulative renewable energy capacity installed by all projects that Van Oord and its acquired companies contributed to since the beginning of our offshore wind activities in 2002. The capacity of the whole project is included, in MW, in the year that all of the physical units of our scope have been installed. Our involvement has been substantial in these projects, ranging from transporting & installing main components all the way up to delivering turnkey projects, including engineering, procurement and construction of full renewable energy projects.

Cutter suction dredger: A vessel that uses a rotating cutter head to loosen the material in the bed.

Diversity & inclusiveness: Diversity of gender (female/male ratio), race, ethnicity, age, sexuality, language, education, background, etc.

Energy transition: The energy transition is a structural shift towards a low-carbon energy system.

Environmental impact: Any change to the environment, whether adverse (pollution) or beneficial, resulting from the company’s activities. In other words, the effect that Van Oord’s actions have on the environment, excluding emissions.

ESG: Environmental, Social, Governance, typically referring to a framework used by companies to report on their non-financial performance.

Fleet capacity utilisation rate: Occupancy of equipment related to project execution in number of working weeks per year (weighted average). This number includes cold stacked equipment.

Flexible fallpipe vessel: A vessel that installs rock on an ocean or riverbed using a fallpipe with the aim of protecting underwater structures or levelling the bed.

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI): Independent, international organisation that helps businesses and other organisations take responsibility for their impacts, by providing them with the global common language to communicate those impacts.

Greenhouse gas emissions: Emissions to air of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O). These emissions fall under scope 1, scope 2 and upstream scope 3 emissions as defined in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and expressed in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents. Concerns greenhouse gas emissions from fuel and electricity use in all equipment, flights, vehicles, offices and shipyards as well as supply chain emissions from purchased goods and services, capital goods, upstream transport, business travel and employee commuting. 

Greenhouse gas intensity of revenue: Indicator that shows how much greenhouse gas is emitted per unit of revenue.

Health: A healthy workplace is one where workers and managers collaborate to continually improve both the mental and physical health and well-being of all workers and by doing so, sustain the productivity of the business.

Human rights: Upholding and promoting the basic rights and freedom of all affected by Van Oord’s activities. Includes rights which everyone can claim, regardless of origin, nationality, belief, gender, legal status or other characteristics.

Jamming: The intentional or unintentional transmission of signals that block GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) signal reception at a receiver, resulting in the degradation or loss of positioning information.

KPIs: Key performance indicators, variables that indicate whether an organisation is on track to achieve its targets.

Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR): Number of recordable injuries with absence (more than 24 hours) per 200,000 hours worked by workers on Van Oord’s payroll (excluding Mackley) or hired in from other companies, based on 2,693 hours per FTE. It is based on compulsory notifications by projects, fleet, offices and yards to the QHSE department. LTIFR includes all reported cases (with absence more than 24 hours).

Male/female ratio: The number of men on the Van Oord payroll compared to the number of women.

Marine ingenuity: The ability to solve difficult problems, often in original, clever, and inventive ways.

Materiality: Refers to the themes/topics considered material, or significant, to a company, either because the company’s activities have significant (potential) impact on that theme or because the theme (potentially) produces risks and opportunities for the company.

Mobility: The ability of staff to move or be moved.

NGO: Non-governmental organisation. A body that is independent of government and focuses on a matter of social concern.

Top management: Members of leadership teams and department directors from H Grades 13 and up.

Operational excellence: An organisation’s determination to deliver excellent service to its customers. It means that everything that the organisation does must be right the first time: delivery on time and for an outstanding price.

Responsible business conduct: Addresses the company's approach to and public disclosure of ethical and fair business conduct, corporate governance and compliance. Includes taxation, privacy, bioethics, fraud, bribery & corruption and fiduciary responsibilities.

Safety: In the workplace, it refers to physical safety and means having a workplace that is reasonably free from danger to all workers and actively preventing the workplace from becoming unsafe.

Science-based target: Target for greenhouse gas emission reduction that aligns with what climate science states is necessary to meet the temperature goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. Van Oord’s targets are aligned with the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.

Scope 1 emissions: Direct greenhouse gas emissions linked to the operation of owned equipment as well as minor sources such as leased vehicles and space heating in buildings.

Scope 2 emissions: Indirect greenhouse gas emissions from purchased electricity used primarily to power support services such as offices, yards and electric vehicles.

Scope 3 upstream emissions: Consists of upstream value chain greenhouse gas emissions such as those related to purchased goods and services, new build vessels and the production, refining and delivery of fuels used in owned equipment.

Sick leave rate: The number of days of absence due to illness (employees on Dutch payroll) divided by the number of potential working days times the number of employees on the Dutch payroll (x 100%).

Spills with significant environmental impact: These are reported spills released beyond the site boundary and leading to a breach of licence conditions.

Spoofing: Deliberate replication of authentic GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) satellite signals with false ones, designed to cause the calculation of an incorrect position at a receiver.

Supply chain management/due diligence: Addresses issues related to environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks within the supply chain, consistent with the Ten Principles of UN Global Compact and OECD Guidelines. Van Oord applies due diligence by actively screening and monitoring suppliers and subcontractors.

Sustainable supply chain: Number of suppliers assessed by Van Oord on Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance risks. Represents the cumulative number of suppliers scanned using external data provided by a data science company and provides insight into how companies conduct their business with regards to human rights, labour standards, corruption and environmental issues.

Trailing suction hopper dredger: A vessel with large, powerful pumps and engines that enable it to suck up sand, clay, sludge and even gravel from ocean or riverbeds.

Total Recordable Incident Injury Rate (TRIR): Number of recordable work-related injuries per 200,000 hours worked by workers on Van Oord’s payroll or hired in from other companies, based on 2,693 hours per FTE. It is based on compulsory notifications by projects, fleet, offices and yards to the QHSE department. Recordable injuries include: Fatalities, Lost time injury cases (absence more than 24 hours.), Medical treatment cases and Restricted work cases. This excludes First aid cases. TRIR includes all reported cases. Mackley has its own system for registration and follow up of incidents as well as its own ISO certifications.

Water injection dredger (WID): A special, innovative dredging vessel that injects water under low pressure into the sea or riverbed, bringing sediment from the bottom into suspension, which is then carried away by natural tidal or river currents. Their excellent manoeuvrability means that WIDs can work close to embankments and quay walls, making them a very good choice for harbour deepening projects.