Agility, a leading global logistics provider, has reported a revenue of KD765.1 million ($2.49 billion) for the first six months, down 1.3 per cent over last year's figures of KD775 million ($2.52 billion), mainly hit by poor aviation and airport operations amid Covid.

 

Announcing the results for the six-month period ending June 30, Agility said its profit plunged 61.3 per cent to KD16.2 million over the same period last year. The ebitda declined by 20.1% to KD 75.8 million.

 

Global Integrated Logistics’ first-half Ebitda was KD28.8 million, a 1.3% increase from the same period in 2019. This was driven by strong Contract Logistics, Project Logistics, and Air Freight results, as well as a sharp focus on containing costs.

 

GIL’s H1 net revenue was KD135.8 million, in line with last year’s performance. Net revenue increased in Contract Logistics, Project Logistics, and Air Freight, but fell in Ocean Freight and Fairs & Events. GIL gross revenue was KD 570.6 million, a 2.5% increase from same period in 2019.

 

According to Agility, the volumes were down in both Air Freight and Ocean Freight in the first half of this year, by 23.6% in Air Freight (tonnage) and 14.8% in Ocean Freight (TEUs), due to Covid-19 impact on demand due to lockdowns, production stoppages, and economic contraction across industries and geographies. 

 

However, H1 saw higher yields in Air Freight due to capacity shortages and a spike in demand for urgent shipments of PPE and other medical equipment. First-half Air Freight net revenue increased 17% vs. the same period a year earlier, while Ocean Freight net revenue decreased 16% vs. same period last year, it stated. 

 

Agility Vice Chairman and CEO Tarek Sultan said: "We entered 2020 with our business on sound footing, which is one reason that we were able to react quickly to the sweeping impact of the COVID-19 pandemic."

 

"We acted immediately to protect employees, customers, and communities, including providing donated logistics support for local governments and NGOs around the world. We also took steps to bring operating expenses and other costs in line with the new environment. If the crisis has demonstrated anything, it is the essential value of logistics and supply chain providers in times of severe disruption," he added.

 

Sultan pointed out that the economic fallout from the pandemic has had an uneven effect on Agility businesses. 

 

"Our contract logistics business and logistics parks have weathered this reasonably well because demand for storage space has been steady or increased, especially as customers have looked to add to safety stock or support pandemic-driven increases in e-commerce sales," he stated.

 

In many instances, we are experiencing accelerated adoption of disruptive and emerging technologies related to the Covid-19 pandemic or underlying CSR paradigms.

 

"Other Agility businesses, such as aviation and airport operations have been directly impacted by the decline in air travel and traffic and are now pivoting towards the development of pioneering new technologies that will be essential to the re-enablement of global travel," he added.

 

Agility’s Infrastructure group too registered a decline with its ebitda falling 18% to KD56 million for the first half. This decrease was driven mainly by UPAC, NAS and GCS entities, which experienced significant declines as a result of the pandemic. 

 

In contrast, Agility Logistics Parks (ALP) and Tristar proved to be resilient during the first half of the year. Infrastructure group net revenue fell 8.4% and gross revenue declined 10.2%.

 

Sultan pointed out that the full impact of Covid-19 was not yet clear. "There are many possible scenarios and many unknowns - but we are taking steps to weather the storm and emerge stronger. We are adjusting to the reality on the ground within each respective business, and bringing the cost structure in line with the new levels of business we are seeing."

 

"We have a strong focus on cash, with a view to having ample liquidity to cover us for the foreseeable future," he added.-TradeArabia News Service