New acquisitions, products and services help DP World to 22% first half profit rise

Group chairman credits the company’s strategy of developing innovative new products and services and prudent management for DP World’s impressive results. Revenue jumped by almost a third to $3.5bn, with the revenue mix now becoming evenly split between containerized and non-containerized business.

News ID: 80426

Date: 24 August 2019 - 16:34

DP World also said its recent acquisitions are performing in line with expectations, with Unifeeder continuing to benefit from structural changes in the market.

DP WORLD SAW FLAT OVERALL THROUGHPUT BUT HAS BEEN INVESTING IN NON-CONTAINERISED BUSINESSES.

DP WORLD has delivered a solid set of first half results with net profit rising 22.2% to $753m but warned that concerns around the trade war continue to weigh on the outlook.

Group chairman and chief executive officer Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem credited the company’s strategy of developing innovative new products and services and prudent management for DP World’s impressive results. Revenue meanwhile jumped by almost a third to $3.5bn in the first half, with the revenue mix now becoming evenly split between containerised and non-containerised business.

The global port operator said in a press release that its recent acquisitions are performing in line with expectations, with Unifeeder performing to expectations and continuing to benefit from structural changes in the market, while its investments on the sub-continent have made now made DP World a significant operator of inland logistics in India. Some 25% of DP World’s revenue came from the Logistics & Maritime segment during the period.

This is probably prudent since overall throughput was almost flat at 35.8m teu compared to 35.6m teu in the first half of 2018.

Meanwhile, investments will continue, as the group pumped in $636m in capital expenditure in the first half of 2019. Full year capex is expected to come in at $1.4bn, with investments planned in UAE, Posorja in Ecuador where the country’s only deepwater port Posorja8, opened on time and on budget, Berbera in Somaliland, terminals in Egypt such as Sokhna and London Gateway.

Ports & Terminals investments will include two new assets in Chile, Fraser Surrey Docks8 in Canada and consolidation of assets in Australia. DP World expects to have some 90.9m teu of gross global capacity in 2019.

Despite uncertainty from the trade war and challenging regional geopolitical realities, DP World has been able to deliver and excel a broadly impressive performance in the first half of 2019, said Mr Bin Sulayem.

“While the near-term trade outlook remains uncertain with global trade disputes and regional geopolitics causing uncertainty to the container market, the strong financial performance of the first six months also leaves us well placed to deliver full-year results slightly ahead of market expectations,” he concluded.