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Smit smiling

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Dutch salvage and towage company Smit is celebrating a 40% jump in net profits last year.
In a brief trading update, it said earnings rose to EUR 38.3m ($45.82m), from EUR 27.4m in 2004.


It had predicted a rise of between 20% and 30% in December.


Despite facing a heavier tax burden of 30%, up from 24% in 2004, its towage and heavy lift activities improved and its salvage division “performed well above the so-called historical average,” it said.


Smit will provide a more detailed breakdown when it publishes its full 2005 results on 9 March.


Last December it acquired a 50% stake in Brazilian harbour towage firm Rebocadores do Brasil (Rebras) for an undisclosed sum.


The company, to be renamed SMIT Rebocadores do Brasil, operates three harbour tugs which are chartered out on a bareboat basis.


But the Dutch group has already outlined a major expansion for the company with plans to operate a “minimum” of twenty tugs in the 45 to 65-ton bollard-pull range.

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