DP World ‘ahead of market growth’
dubai — Global port operator DP World Limited said on Thursday that its global portfolio of container terminals had an encouraging start to the year delivering ahead-ofmarket growth.
The Dubai-based company handled 16.4 million TEU (twentyfoot equivalent units) across its global portfolio of container terminals in the first quarter of 2017.
DP World said gross container volumes across its container terminals grew by 5.7 per cent year-onyear on a reported basis, and five per cent on a like-for-like basis, well ahead of the industry estimate of 2.6 per cent throughput growth for first quarter 2017.
“There are signs of a gradual improvement in the market environment in 2017 and our portfolio has had an encouraging start to the year delivering ahead-of-market growth. The robust performance was delivered across all three regions, which once again demonstrates that we have the rel- evant capacity in the right markets,” said group chairman and chief executive officer Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem.
The first quarter witnessed a steady start to the year and all three regions delivered growth, especially terminals in Europe and the Americas. The UAE also stabilised and handled 3.7 million TEU, growing 1.8 per cent year-on-year in first quarter.
In a statement, the company said its terminals handled 8.7 million TEU at a consolidated level during the first quarter of 2017, a 19.9 per cent improvement in performance on a reported basis and up 1.6 per cent year-on-year on a like-for-like basis. Reported consolidated volume in the Asia Pacific and Indian Subcontinent region was boosted by the consolidation of Busan (South Korea) at the end of 2016.
“We are pleased to see volumes recovering in the Americas while our new terminals in Europe continue to deliver growth. Encouragingly, the UAE volumes have stabilised and as we move through 2017, we continue to expect our new developments in Rotterdam (Netherlands), Nhava Sheva (India), London Gateway (United Kingdom) and Yarimca (Turkey) to drive growth in our portfolio,” said Sulayem.
He said the first quarter volume performance demonstrates that DP World portfolio is well positioned to deliver growth. “Our continued focus on delivering operational excellence in addition to investing in relevant capacity should continue to ensure that we remain the port operator of choice across geographies. Given the encouraging start to the year, we remain well placed to meet full year 2017 market expectations,” said Sulayem. To give a major fillip to its global operations, the ports operator had partnered with Canadian pension fund manager Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec to create an investment vehicle worth $3.7 billion that would invest in ports and terminals worldwide. In January, the company said it would hold a 55 percent share in the vehicle while Caisse de dépôt, a long-term institutional investor that manages funds for public pension and insurance plans, will own 45 per cent.
The platform will have “a focus on investment-grade countries” excluding the UAE, and will invest mostly in existing assets but with up to 25 percent in greenfield opportunities, DP World said.
— issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com