DP World revenue soars 9.6% to $2.29B
dubai — Global ports operator DP World said on Thursday it could deliver “ahead-of-market” volume growth while recording a flat profit growth in the first-half helped by a pick up in global trade and ramped up recent investments.
The Dubai-headquartered firm, announcing a profit of $606 million attributable to the owners of the company in the six months to June 30, said it was confident it would meet full-year market expectations.
The earnings, which were in line with analyst estimates, according to Thomson Reuters data, were slightly lower than $608 million profit in the same 2016 period.
Revenue increased 9.6 per cent to $2.29 billion, and in July the company said gross container volumes rose 8.2 per cent in the first half to 34 million twenty-foot equivalent units.
DP World, one of the world’s largest port operators, reported improved trading environment in the first half and market share gains from the new shipping alliances driving volumes in the second quarter of the year.
Having recorded robust performance across all three regions, DP World said it is well placed to meet full year 2017 market expectations. DP World group chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem said the company recorded a first-half like-for-like earnings growth of 15.8 per cent. Adjusted Ebitda reached $1.225 billion as margins were maintained at above 50 per cent.
“Encouragingly, after a challenging period, we have seen a pick-up in global trade particularly in the second quarter of the year, and that combined with the ramp up in our recent investments in Yarimca (Turkey), London Gateway (UK), Rotterdam (Netherlands) and JNP Mumbai (India), has delivered ahead-of-market volume growth,” said Bin Sulayem.
He said DP World invested $595 million of capex in key growth markets in the first half, and announced over $170 million of acquisitions in maritime business, which offers significant growth opportunities. “These investments leave us wellplaced to deliver on our strategy to strengthen our port-related services and capitalise on the significant medium to long-term growth potential of this industry,” said Bin Sulayem.
He said the group’s balance sheet remained strong and it continued to generate high levels of cashflow, which gave it the ability to invest in the future growth of current portfolio, and the flexibility to make new investments should the right opportunities arise as well as delivering enhanced returns to shareholders over the medium term.
“Looking ahead to the second half of the year, we expect higher levels of throughput to be maintained. Overall, the steady financial performance of the first six months leaves us confident in meeting full-year market expectations,” said Bin Sulayem.
DP World, which was recently upgraded by Fitch Ratings to BBB+ from BBB with stable outlook, after both Fitch and Moody’s upgraded the rating by one notch last year, said capital expenditure guidance for 2017 remains unchanged at $1.2 billion with investments planned into Jebel Ali London Gateway (UK), Prince Rupert (Canada) and Berbera (Somaliland).
The company said cash from operating activities amounted to $1.009 billion up from $905 million in first half of 2016.
— issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com