Qatari logistics firm Gulf Warehousing Company (GWC) posted a net income of QAR 50.88 mn (USD 14 mn) in 1Q 2024,down 17.25% y-o-y, according to a financial statement (pdf). The warehousing and distribution company’s topline also fell 8.96% during the same period to QAR 375.7 mn.
The drop in performance was driven by a fall in income from the outfit’s core operations, with net gains from GWC’s logistics operations, which include storage, handling, packaging, and transport, dropping 32% y-o-y to QAR 35.22 mn. Meanwhile, GWC’s freight forwarding segment saw a 65% y-o-y boost in net gains to QAR 15.17 mn.
Looking ahead: “GWC is actively implementing a strategic plan to drive growth in line with the Third National Development Strategy (NDS3) 2024-2030 which aims to reinforce Qatar’s position as a global logistics hub and position its logistics cluster as a specialized e-commerce distribution hub, focusing on re-exporting high-value items to reach up to QAR 52bn in re-exports by 2030,” GWC Chairman Shaikh Mohammed Al Thani said in the associated statement.
Recent milestones: GWC subsidiary Flag Logistics said it will establish a 50k sqm logistics hub, dubbed Flag Oman, at Oman’s Khazaen Economic City in January providing specialized areas for various logistics services including dry, ambient, chilled and frozen warehousing, bulk storage, records management and marshaling areas. GWC also kicked off the second phase of developments at its flagship Al Wukair Logistics Park in Qatar in September 2023, with expansions seeing the addition of upwards of 500 retail, warehousing, and light industry units.