São Paulo – DP World, the port operator headquartered in Dubai, recorded 5% growth in revenues in 2012, with US$ 3.121 billion, and profit prior to spending of US$ 555 million, 21% more than in 2011. In the balance sheet disclosed on Wednesday (20), the company said that it spun off assets that “were not essential or had low rate of return”, to concentrate on markets that are more profitable.
In 2012, the company EBITDA, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, grew 8% as against 2011, reaching US$ 1.4 billion. The company also stated that it has reduced its net debt from US$ 3.5 billion in 2011 to US$ 2.8 billion last year.
In a press statement, the chairman at DP World, Ahmed Bin Sulayem, said that on delivering greater profits at a challenging moment, he shows that the company is in the right markets and performing the correct operations.
Most of the company’s revenues were obtained in the Middle East, Europe and Africa, where the company made US$ 2.1 billion in 2012, 12% more than in 2011. In the Asia-Pacific region and the Indian subcontinent, revenues were 9% lower than in 2011, totalling US$ 457 million. In Australia and the Americas, revenues also dropped: to US$ 553 million, 7% less than in 2011.
The company has stated that it maintains its forecast of greater operating capacity through works in progress in Jebel Ali Free Zone, in Dubai, in the construction of a new port terminal in Santos, Embraport, and a terminal in London. There is also another project for expansion of Jebel Ali.
"Over the next two years, we will deliver a further 10 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of new capacity. The first of this will come on stream in the next few months at Jebel Ali (UAE), with Embraport (Brazil) and London Gateway (UK) opening later this year. The fourth, the new terminal at Jebel Ali, is well underway and set to open next year. We are in no doubt that the delivery of this new capacity will be transformational for DP World over the medium term," said the company president in the company’s balance sheet.
*Translated by Mark Ament
