DP World’s Earnings Up by 22 Pct

Global marine terminal operator DP World reported strong financial results from its global portfolio of marine terminals for the six months to 30 June 2015, delivering profit attributable to owners of $405 million, up by 21.9% compared to the first half of 2014.

DP World’s revenue stood at $1.9 billion, compared to the revenue of $1.6 billion from the same period in 2014, with key growth drivers being the UAE and Europe.

The terminal operator said that its revenue growth of 14.5% was also supported by acquisition of Economic Zone World (EZW).

“This financial performance has been achieved despite uncertain market conditions, which once again demonstrates the well diversified and resilient nature of our portfolio. In 2015, we have invested over $3.5 billion in acquisitions and expansionary capex, and this investment leaves us well placed to capitalise on the significant medium to long-term growth potential of this industry,” said DP World Chairman, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem.

“We remain on course to deliver over 100 million TEU of capacity by 2020, while maintaining the existing shape of our portfolio that has a 70% exposure to origin and destination cargo and 75% exposure to faster growing markets. This positioning will enable us to deliver both earnings growth and shareholder value over the long term.”

Like-for-like revenue increased 7.6% driven predominately by containerised revenue growth of 5.7% on a like-for-like basis, with containerised revenue per TEU increasing by 2.1% on a like-for-like basis and non-containerised revenues growing by 14.7% on a like-for-like basis.

DP World’s adjusted EBITDA amounted to $924 million and adjusted EBITDA margin was 48.6%, when compared to 1H2014 adjusted EBITDA of $778 million and adjusted EBITDA margin 46.9%.

Group Chief Executive Mohammed Sharaf commented: “Our capex programme remains on track and we have added over 3 million TEU of new capacity in the first half of 2015 with our projects in Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Nhava Sheva (India) now operational. Yarimca (Turkey) and the second phase of Terminal 3 Jebel Ali (UAE) are on track for the second half of 2015.  We believe this additional capacity will contribute to growth in the coming years and deliver enhanced returns to shareholders over the medium term.

“The near term outlook remains uncertain with limited visibility. However, we believe our business is well positioned to continue to outperform the market. We remain focused on delivering relevant new capacity in the right markets, improving efficiencies and managing costs to drive profitability.  Our first half performance underpins our confidence in meeting full year market expectations.”

DP World also said that by year end the group expects to have approximately 85 million TEU of capacity globally, with 30% of capacity in the Middle East and Africa, markets that are forecast to grow significantly.

“Overall, while we have enjoyed a positive first half, we expect growth rates to moderate in the second half due to softer global GDP growth. However, historically our second half throughput performance has been stronger than the first and we expect that trend to continue. The solid financial performance of the first six months leaves us well placed to meet full-year market expectations,” Sharaf added.