DP World’s flagship terminal Jebel Ali
DP World has attributed its strong half-year 2022 performance to its consistent investment in relevant capacity, focus on high margin cargo and a “drive to deliver to customised solutions to cargo owners”.
Adjusted EBITDA increased by US$628m, and EBITDA margin for the half-year stood at 30.8%, while revenue increased 60.4% on a year-on-year basis and 20.1% like-for-like to US$7.9m.
Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, DP World group chairman and CEO, said: “This significant growth demonstrates that our strategy to focus on high margin cargo and to offer customised supply chain solutions will provide sustainable returns in the long term.
“Encouragingly, cargo owners continue to respond positively to our end-to-end product offering and we are focused on integrating our recent logistics acquisitions to further drive revenue synergies.”
Gross container throughput was up nearly 3% on a like-for-like basis to 39.5m teu, whilst consolidated throughput was up 1.4% on a like-for-like basis to 22.9m teu.
Container revenue per TEU increased by 9%, driven by higher demand for storage.
Cash from operating activities increased by 29.6% to US$1.9m in the first half of 2022 compared to the US$1.4m in 2021.
DP World has continued to invest in high growth verticals and markets in order to offer compelling supply chain solutions, Bin Sulayem noted.
Through the company’s infrastructure across logistics, ports & terminals, economic zones, digital and marine services DP World aims to lower inefficiencies and improve connectivity in key trade lanes.
“In recent months we have announced several transactions to raise approximately US$9bn,” Bin Sulayem said. “This strengthening of the balance sheet allowed us to achieve our 2022 leverage target of below 4x Net Debt to EBITDA, and this fresh capital also provides us with the flexibility to accelerate investment in key growth markets whilst maintaining an investment grade rating.”
DP World expanded the QDPQ partnership in the UAE to capture the growth potential of the wider region, raising US$5bn in tranche 1 for a 22% stake in the three UAE assets with up to US$3bn expected to be raised in tranche 2.
The expansion of NIIF India partnership is expected to raise c.$300m (US$111m) and will allow DP World to accelerate investment across ports and logistics.
A new partnership with the UK’s development arm BII aims to unlock trade potential of Africa.
DP World invested US$741m across its existing portfolio during the first half of the year, up from US$671m in 2021.
Capital expenditure guidance for 2022 is up to US$1.4bn with investments planned into UAE, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, London Gateway in the UK, Sokhna in Egypt and Senegal and Callao in Peru.
Bin Sulayem added: “Overall, the strong first half performance leaves us well placed to deliver improved full year results. However, the near-term outlook remains uncertain due to the more challenging macro and geopolitical environment.
“Consequently, we expect growth rates to moderate in the second half of 2022. Nevertheless, we remain positive on the medium to long-term fundamentals of the industry and DP World’s ability to continue to deliver sustainable returns.”
