DUBAI, July 31 – The world’s third largest maritime port operator by assets DP World Ltd. said on Wednesday it handled 26.6 million TEU globally in the first six months this year, showing a 5.8 percent decline year on year, reports China’s Xinhua news agency.
DP World, whose shares are listed on the NASDAQ Dubai, said in an e-mailed statement there were lower volumes in the Asia Pacific and Indian Subcontinent region, the Middle East and Africa (Mena) and Europe.
“This was mitigated by a stronger performance in the Americas and Australia region which increased 2.7 percent on a like for like basis,” said DP World.
When adjusted for changes across the global portfolio, the decline in container volumes handled was 2.1 percent in the same period of time. In 2012, DP World divested the ports at Tilbury (United Kingdom), Australia’s Adelaide, Aden (Yemen) and Vostochny (Russia). Earlier this year, DP World monetised the ACT port (Hong Kong) in 2013.
The firm, which operates more than 65 marine ports worldwide, called the macro-economic environment “challenging,” especially in the Mena region and in Europe.
DP World group chief executive Mohammed Sharaf said that despite a softer first half when compared with the same period last year, “we saw an encouraging uplift in containers handled during the second quarter.”
Container handling is the firm’s core business as it generates around 80 percent of its revenue. In 2012, DP World handled more than 56 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent container units).
Regarding the outlook for the second half of this year, chairman Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem said the company would remain confident about the long-term outlook of our industry “and we continue to invest to meet the future capacity requirements of our customers.”
DP World shares gained 34 percent in value in the last six months.
– BERNAMA
