DP World today reported a profit before tax of $310 million for the first half of this year, a 12 per cent increase on an underlying basis over the same period last year.

 

The company’s revenues increased to $1.529 billion with underlying growth of 10 per cent. There was a strong improvement in EBITDA to $672 million with underlying growth 11 per cent. 

 

DP World chairman Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem said: “The past six months has been a challenging period for the global economy.  Taking this into account, it is very encouraging that DP World has been able to show good profit growth across its global portfolio, led by its key markets of Africa, the Middle East and South America.”

 

The company continued investment in quality long-term assets with $260 million invested during the period, a statement said.

 

In a challenging global macroeconomic environment, DP World handled 7.5 per cent more containers than during the same period last year and outperformed industry volume growth leading to an increase in market share, it said.

 

The Middle East, Europe and Africa region delivered an excellent performance with an 18 per cent improvement in EBITDA to $477 million and further improvement in EBITDA margin to 46.3 per cent.  “This reflects the strategic positioning of our terminals towards the faster growing and stronger economies in this region, mitigating weaker trade across continental Europe,” it said. 

 

The Asia Pacific and Indian Subcontinent region reported EBITDA of $159 million in the first six months and record EBITDA margins of 68.4 per cent.

 

Terminals in the Australia and Americas region delivered a strong revenue performance with $266 million or 12 per cent growth on an underlying basis and an EBITDA of $77 million. 

 

DP World remains highly cash generative with net cash from operations of $518 million, said the statement.  

“This cash supports our continued investment in our global portfolio.  We remain focused on delivering the right capacity in the right locations to meet the capacity requirements of our customers who are changing trade routes and increasing the use of ultra large container ships (ULCS),” the company said.  

 

In April DP World fully repaid and cancelled its $3 billion syndicated loan facility due in October 2012 using cash balances.  DP World maintains a very healthy balance sheet and low leverage of 2.7 times.  

 

In addition, the company has access to additional cash resources through a new $1 billion syndicated bank loan which is currently undrawn, it said

 

Group chief executive officer Mohammed Sharaf said: “In a tougher operating environment, we have reported a good set of results for the first six months, with profit and margin up on the same period last year. We continue to outperform industry volume growth; our balance sheet remains strong and allows us to invest in the future growth of our portfolio.  

 

“I am particularly pleased to see our terminals handle an increasing number of the largest vessels in response to the industry trend.  The quality of our assets is reflected in our underlying revenue growth, which again exceeds volume growth.  These robust results show our portfolio is well diversified in today’s more challenging markets, and well placed to continue to outperform in the future.

 

"The global economic uncertainty seen in the first half of the year has continued into the second half.  Our portfolio, as we have seen, continues to show resilience and we remain committed to delivering an improved operational and financial performance over 2011.” – TradeArabia News Service