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Abu Dhabi’s AD Ports Group has announced impressive financial results for the first half of the year ending 30th June, reporting a revenue increase of 21% year-on-year to AED 1,832 million (US$ 499 million) compared with AED 1,517 million (US$ 413 million) in the first half of 2020. This, the company says, has been driven by organic growth, diversification into new businesses, new leases and partnerships.
Profitability on an EBITDA basis rose 8% year-on-year to AED 770 million (US$ 210 million), up from AED 714 million (US$ 195 million) in the first half of 2020, with growth across most of the group’s business segments.
Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamsi, Group CEO, AD Ports Group, said: “Our financial performance is underpinned by continued expansions and increased activity, with key partnerships and joint ventures being established that are expected to deliver reliable returns in the future. We are focused on growing our customer base across all of our business clusters and a significant part of our business is based on long-term contracts that provide reliable and stable revenues.”
Cargo volumes handled by AD Ports grew from 15 million tonnes in the first half of 2020 to 25 million tonnes in the first six months of 2021, while container throughput grew from 1.57 million TEU to 1.59 million TEU during the same period. Industrial zones leased about 2.4 million m2 of land during the first half of this year 2021 and other operational highlights to date in 2021 include the formal inauguration of the expanded container terminal at Fujairah Port in June 2021.
Martin Aarup, Group Chief Financial Officer, AD Ports Group, said: “Our business model is based on long-term contracts with predictable cash flows, enabling us to plan and invest effectively. Coming out of the pandemic, we are focusing on delivering solid returns and managing our capital effectively. Our invested capital increased from AED 19.4 billion (US$ 5.3 billion) in 2020 to AED 22.4 billion (US$ 6.1 billion) in 2021 in line with our ongoing expansion program.”
The Group reported a slight decline in return on invested capital to 5.04%. Thiswas mainly due to increase in invested capital across the portfolio, especially in the ports and industrial zone businesses, which are expected to yield incremental returns going forward.
