Global trade enabler DP World has announced strong financial results for the year ended 31 December 2018.
DP World Group Chairman and CEO, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, commented: “DP World is pleased to report like-for-like earnings growth of 7.6% in 2018 and attributable earnings of $1,270 million.
“Adjusted EBITDA grew 13.7% to $2,808 million with margins at 49.7% on a reported basis and 54.1% on a like-for-like basis. This robust performance has been delivered in an uncertain trade environment, once again highlighting the resilience of our portfolio.
“We have made good progress in delivering on our strategy of strengthening our portfolio to become a global solution provider and trade enabler with approximately $2.5 billion worth of acquisitions announced in the year.
“These acquisitions offer strong growth opportunities and enhance DP World’s presence in the global supply chain as we continue to diversify our revenue base and look at opportunities to connect directly with the owners of cargo and aggregators of demand.
“Going forward, we aim to integrate our new acquisitions and drive synergies across the portfolio with the objective of removing inefficiencies in global trade, improving the quality of our earnings and driving returns.
“The Board of DP World recommends increasing the dividend by 5% to $365.9 million at 43 US cents per share, which is in line with past policy of maintaining a payout ratio of approximately 30%.
“The Board is confident of the Company’s ability to continue to generate cash and support our future growth whilst maintaining a consistent dividend payout.
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Current year has started with trading in line with expectations and whilst the near-term outlook remains uncertain with the trade war and geopolitical headwinds, we expect our portfolio to remain resilient and see increased contributions from our recent acquisitions and investments.”
DP World continued to invest in solution providers and acquired the integrated multimodal logistics player Continental Warehousing Corporation (CWC) in India, Cosmos Agencia Marítima in Peru, and the Unifeeder Group in Denmark, which operates the largest container common user feeder and growing shortsea network in Europe.
Earlier, the company has also announced the acquisition of the pan-European logistics business, P&O Ferries.
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