DP World Announces Robust First-half Financials
DP World has announced robust financial results for the six months to 30 June 2018. On a reported basis, revenue grew 14.4% and adjusted EBITDA increased by 7.9%.
Adjusted EBITDA margin was 50.3%, delivering profit attributable to owners of the Company, before separately disclosed items, of $593 million and EPS of 71.5 US cents.
On a like-for-like basis, revenue grew 3.0% and adjusted EBITDA increased by 4.2% with adjusted EBITDA margin of 54.4%, and attributable earnings to owners of the Company increased up by 5.2%, reflecting the stable trading environment.
------------------------- Chairman’s Message --------------------------
“DP World is pleased to report like-for-like earnings growth of 5.2% in the first half of 2018 and attributable earnings of $593 million. Adjusted EBITDA grew 7.9% to $1,322 million with margins at 50.3% on a reported basis and 54.4% on a like-for-like basis.
“This robust performance has been delivered in an uncertain trade environment, once again highlighting our operational excellence and the resilience of our portfolio.
“We have made good progress in delivering our strategy of strengthening our portfolio of complementary and port related business with approximately $1,400 million8 worth of acquisitions announced recently.
“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.
“Our balance sheet remains strong and we continue to generate high levels of cash flow, which gives us the ability to invest in the future growth of our current portfolio, and the flexibility to make new investments should the right opportunities arise.
“Going forward, we aim to integrate our new acquisitions and we continue to extend our core business into port-related, maritime, transportation and logistics sectors with the objective of removing inefficiencies in global trade, improving the quality of our earnings and driving returns.
“The near-term trade outlook remains uncertain with recent changes in trade policies and geopolitical headwinds in some regions continuing to pose uncertainty to the container market.
“However, the robust financial performance of the first six months also leaves us well placed for 2018 and we expect to see increased contributions from our recent investments in the second half of the year.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Revenue of $2,626 million: Revenue growth of 14.4% was supported by volume growth and the impact of new acquisitions. Like-for-like revenue increased by 3.0% driven by a 4.6% increase in total containerized revenue.
Adjusted EBITDA of $1,322 million: Adjusted EBITDA grew 7.9% and EBITDA margin for the half year was at 50.3%. EBITDA margin declined due to the consolidation of lower margin Maritime services businesses.
Profit attributable to Owners of $593 million: Profit declined 2.1% due to the deconsolidation of Doraleh (Djibouti) and consolidation of DP World Santos (Brazil), which remains in ramp up stage.
Strong Cash Generation: Cash from operating activities remains strong at $979 million in H1, 2018, slightly lower than $1,010 million in H1, 2017.
Ratings Upgrades: DP World was again upgraded by the rating agency Moody’s from Baa2 to Baa1 with a stable outlook. Fitch Ratings also upgraded DP World from BBB to BBB+ in July 2017.
Long-term Investments and Expansion: Capital expenditure of $439 million invested across the portfolio during the first half of the year. Annual expenditure guidance unchanged at $1.4 billion with investments planned into UAE, Posorja (Ecuador), Berbera (Somaliland), Sokhna (Egypt) and London Gateway (UK).
The acquisition of Drydocks is performing in line with expectations.
DP World continued to invest in complementary sectors and acquired three more strategic assets – the integrated multimodal logistics players Continental Warehousing Corporation (CWC) in India, Cosmos Agencia Marítima in Peru, and the Unifeeder Group in Denmark.
Read More: DP World to Build New African Hub
