UAE-based port operatorAD Ports Group saw its bottomline inch up 6% y-o-y to AED 1.4 bn in 2023, according to a preliminary earnings release published last week. The company’s topline more than doubled, surging 112 % y-o-y to AED 11.7 bn in the same period.

4Q figures: The port operator’s net income fell 17% y-o-y to AED 285 mn due to “extraordinary one-off items,” it said. Revenues more than doubled to AED 3.57 bn.

The story behind the numbers: The company cited strong performance in its maritime and shipping, ports, logistics, and digital clusters, along with recent acquisitions, as driving forces in the revenue surge. Ports also saw a boost in revenues, particularly at the company’s flagship Abu Dhabi Khalifa Port, with general cargo and RoRo operations bolstered by six-month impact from the company’s recent acquisition of Spain’s Noatum and establishment of KGTL, a joint venture with Kaheel Terminals, in Pakistan. The company’s logistics and digital cluster operations also buoyed performance. Higher depreciation and amortization costs, along with finance costs and taxes, weighed down performance, the company said.

Red Sea disruptions are expected to boost demand in 2024: Disruptions to regional trade routes have caused a spike in volumes and freight rates, with sustained disruptions expected to have a “knock-on effect” on the company’s operations, the statement said, without providing further details. “The increased transit time of around two weeks for vessels on the main East-West trade lane, rerouted through the Cape of Good Hope, has resulted in a stronger demand for tonnage,” AD Ports said, adding that this is boosting ocean freight prices.

AD Ports had a good year: The company closed a 100% acquisition of Spain-based logistics outfit Noatum on 30 June 2023, with the outfit being valued at EUR 660 mn at the time. The year also saw AD Ports Group and Pakistan’s Karachi Port Trust (KPT) ink a 25-year concession agreement for a bulk and general cargo terminal at Karachi Port, which will be developed, operated and managed via an AD Ports, Kaheel Terminals joint venture, dubbed Karachi Gateway Terminal Limited (KGTL).

Big steps so far in 2024: AD Ports’ freezones and warehousing subsidiary Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi (Kezad) kicked off a new phase of warehousing developments late last month, with an AED 621 mn (USD 169 mn) investment to boost the outfit’s pre-built industrial and logistics warehousing capacity 43% by the end of 2025

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