DP World records first half net profit of $206m

18 August 2010

Growth in container volumes has been driven by terminals in Asia

Dubai-based port operator DP World has announced a net profit of $206m for the first six months of 2010, a 10 per cent increase from the same time the previous year.

In the first six months of 2009 the company reported a net profit of $188m.

DP World also achieved a five per cent growth in revenues in the first six months of the year, which the firm attributes to the return of container volume growth and maintaining container revenue per twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

“As we move into the second half of the year, uncertainty remains over the sustainability of global trade volumes,” says Mohammad Sharaf, chief executive officer of DP World. “However, we expect the second half to deliver stronger results than the first half of the year as our terminals benefit from seasonal trade flows and the contribution from new terminals.”

In July, the company said that it handled 23.7 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) across all its ports during the first six months of 2010, an increase of 16 per cent on the first half of 2009 (MEED 28:7:10).

The company’s ports in the UAE handled 5.5 million TEUs in the first six months of 2010, which reflects a three per cent increase when compared to the same period of the previous year.

The firm says that the growth in volume is mainly driven by its terminals in Asia where the company has a series of joint venture and associate terminals. DP World’s terminal at Saigon in Vietnam opened in the fourth quarter of 2009 and a terminal in Callao in Peru opened at the end of June 2010.

The company has a net debt of $5,365m as of 30 June, up from $5,059m, due to the investment in terminals, including capital expenditure of $411m, investment in joint venture terminals of $23m and the investment in land at London Gateway of $192m.

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