Abu Dhabi Ports Co. (ADX:ADPORTS), commonly known as AD Ports, recently announced impressive earnings for the first half of 2024, showcasing a remarkable performance driven by strategic acquisitions and organic growth. The logistics and industry group, headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, reported a staggering rise in revenue, which surged to 8.07 billion Emirati dirhams, significantly improving from the previous year's figure of 3.88 billion dirhams.
This substantial increase can be attributed to robust growth across its port, logistics, and digital segments, alongside the contributions from its recent acquisitions of Noatum and GFS. In terms of profitability, AD Ports demonstrated a year-over-year net profit increase of 25%, reaching 838.8 million dirhams, while EBITDA saw a dramatic 52% rise, culminating at 2.11 billion dirhams.
Notably, the company allocated 2.45 billion dirhams towards organic growth capital expenditure, aligning with its annual guidance of between 4 billion and 4.5 billion dirhams. "Our strong second-quarter results provide compelling evidence of the success of AD Ports Group's focused international expansion strategy.
This growth is a result not only of our acquisitions but also of significant organic development across our core operations," stated Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi in an earnings release. However, AD Ports also acknowledged the headwinds posed by ongoing disruptions in the logistics industry and global supply chains, largely attributed to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and persistent attacks on vessels in the Red Sea.
The company expects these challenges to persist at least until the end of 2024. Despite the landscape of adversity, the group reported sustained strong demand within the container market. The second quarter witnessed reinforced ocean freight and air cargo rates, bolstered by anticipated ongoing supply chain disruptions, which are likely to continue influencing demand and pricing well into the third and fourth quarters.
"As our group extends its international footprint, we are devoted to navigating AD Ports Group profitably through this macroeconomic turbulence while seizing future growth opportunities as they emerge," asserted Group Chief Financial Officer Martin Aarup. As a testament to investor confidence, shares of AD Ports experienced an almost 2% increase towards the end of trading on the Abu Dhabi bourse, indicating a positive market response to the company's robust financial standing amid challenging conditions..