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Dubai: DP World on Monday reported a profit of $420 million (Dh1.54 billion) for 2007, up 52 per cent on the previous year.
The world's fourth-largest port operator said its revenue from 42 terminals in 22 countries last year increased 32 per cent to $2.7 billion.
"This is an excellent set of results driven by DP World's well positioned portfolio which benefits from the strong Asia to European trade routes and the growth of container cargo in the faster growing economies of the emerging markets. This is a trend we expect to continue," DP World chairman Sultan Ahmad Bin Sulayem told reporters.
DP World raised $4.96 billion by selling 23 per cent of itself in the region's biggest initial public offering (IPO) last year and listed the shares on the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX) in November.
The dollar-denominated stock has fallen more than 29 per cent since then. It closed unchanged at 92 cents yesterday.
Bin Sulayem said the stock has not performed as per market expectations.
Company officials said they expect DP World's container throughput growth this year to be better than the average industry growth predictions of about 12 per cent per annum.
It achieved 43.3 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2007, growing 18 per cent on the previous year. The flagship Port of Jebel Ali achieved 10 million TEUs and now ranks number seven in the world. The port contributed 30 per cent to DP World's revenues.
DP World said origin and destination cargo accounted for 76 per cent of its 2007 throughput, while the remainder was transshipment.
After the acquisition of Egypt's Sokhna Port, the company now has 43 container terminals in its portfolio in 23 countries.
Expansion
It has 13 ongoing projects, including London Gateway and Maasvlakte 2 in Rotterdam. These will add 25 million TEUs of new capacity by 2017, taking the total capacity to 90 million TEUs.
"Expanding our existing portfolio remains key and we continue to see plenty of opportunities across all regions, both existing port operations and new developments," Bin Sulayem said, without specifying the locations of these opportunities.
Chief financial officer Yuvraj Narayan said there were no immediate plans to borrow money for expansion.
"We have all the funds that we need to implement our plans," he said.
Narayan said the dividend amount will be 20 per cent of the profit. The dividend will be paid on June 2 to ordinary shareholders.
Performance: Key facts
- Revenue: $2.73 billion
- Profit after tax: $420 million
- Earnings per share: 2.26 cents
- Dividend: 1.33 cents per share
- Finance costs: $357.25 million
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