DP World reports 13.2 percent revenue growth in 2017

On a reported basis, revenue grew 13.2 percent and 6 percent on a like-for-like basis, delivering profit of $1.2 billion, or 15.1 percent more than the same period in 2016.

Overall container volumes grew ahead of the market with 10.1 percent year-on-year, ahead of Drewry Maritime’s full year market estimate of 6 percent. 

According to DP World group chairman and CEO, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, the company’s diversification into other areas of logistics has been key to achieving this performance.

“In recent years, we have leveraged on our in-house expertise to extend our core business into port-related, maritime, transportation and logistics sectors with the objective of diversifying our revenue base,” he said in a statement.

“[By] connecting directly with the owners of cargo and aggregators of demand we’ve removed inefficiencies in trade and improved the quality of our earnings,” he added.

Sulayem said that DP World would continue to expand beyond port operations into free zone and inland logistics hub operations to leverage a general up-tick in global trade.

“Our portfolio has seen strong performance across all three regions benefitting from the improved trading environment and market share gains,” he said.

“Going forward, we expect this trend to continue as we seek opportunities in complementary sectors in the global supply chain and also make use of new technology and data solutions to provide better service to our customers,” Sulayem added.

DP World invested $1 billion in capital across its global portfolio last year, but that level of investment is not expected to be maintained in 2018.

“We will maintain capital expenditure discipline by bringing capacity in line with demand,” Sulayem said. “As we look ahead into 2018, geopolitical headwinds in some regions pose a challenge but we expect to continue to grow ahead of the market and see increased contributions from our recent investments.”