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UAE-based port operator AD Ports Group saw its bottom line inch up 6% y-o-y toAED 1.36 bn in 2023 on the back of strong performance in its shipping and maritime, ports, and logistics sectors,according to the company’s latest preliminary earnings release. The company’s topline more than doubled, surging 112 % y-o-y to AED 11.68 bn in the same period. The completion of five new acquisitions also buoyed performance, the company added.
On the downside: Higher depreciation and amortization costs, along with finance costs and taxes, weighed on performance, the company said.
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.
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.
AMERICANA-
Americana posts flat growth: F&B giant Americana ’s net income attributable to shareholders remained flat in 2023 at USD 259.5 mn (AED 953 mn), according to its earnings release (pdf). The firm’s revenues inched up 1.5% y-o-y to USD 2.41 bn (AED 8.86 bn), driven by a “record 300 gross new store openings,” according to the statement.
Egypt’s FX crunch + regional tensions weighed: “The company demonstrated resilient performance, despite USD 106 mn (AED 389 mn) impact of unfavorable foreign exchange movements, especially in Egypt, and impact on business during the fourth quarter due to recent regional geopolitical tensions,” the company said.
REMEMBER-Bloomberg reported last month that Americana has slashed nearly 100 jobs (most of them in Dubai) as it both restructures and faces the impact of a consumer boycott of its brands that came after the start of Israel’s war in Gaza.
Americana will pay outUSD 130 mn in dividends for the year, in addition to a one-time USD 50 mn dividend, to be approved by the company’s board.
DIFC-
Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) saw its operating income jump 27% y-o-y to AED 859 mn in 2023, the freezone said in a press release. DIFC’s combined revenues hit AED 1.3 bn, up 23% y-o-y, while its assets rose 18% y-o-y to AED 18 bn.
DIFC’s company registrations jumped 34% y-o-y, with 1.4k companies registering to set up shop in the freezone. The record growth in registrations was “supported by both financial and innovation companies and non-financial companies,” Reuters reports, citing DIFC Governor Essa Kazim. The number of active companies in DIFC grew 26% y-o-y to over 5.5k companies, with fintech and innovation firms accounting for 902 this year in total.
Demand is expected to remain strong, “underpinned by limited supply entering the market and strong demand from international occupiers looking to set up in the region, such as banks and wealth managers,” co-head of Industrial and Logistics UAE at Knight Frank consultancy in Dubai Adam Wynne told Reuters.
UNION PROPERTIES-
Motor City developer Union Properties’ recorded a net income of AED 811 mn in 2023, marking a 2607% y-o-y increase, driven by a successful turnaround strategy focusing on cost efficiencies and debt restructuring, according to its earrings release (pdf).The company’s revenues rose 21% y-o-y to AED 508 mn, attributed to improved performance in subsidiaries and ongoing growth in the UAE real estate sector, according to its preliminary financial results (pdf) .
ICYMI: Earlier this week, Union Properties announced that it had successfully resolved a series of debt and land repurposing issues with Dubailand and Emirates NBD.
OTHER EARNINGS-
Ins. provider Salama recorded a net loss of AED 43.5 mn in 2023, after netting a bottom line of AED 35.4 mn in 2022, according to the company’s earnings release (pdf). The company attributes the losses to a “goodwill impairment of AED 36.1 mn” driven by Egyptian currency depreciation, plus a “one-time loss of AED 28.02 mn” from an unrecovered fire ins. claim. Excluding the impairment and one-off loss, net income would have come in at AED 20.6 mn.
Ins. revenues rose 20.3% y-o-y to AED 1.11 bn during the period, according to the release.
Al Buhaira National Ins. lowered its net losses by 27% y-o-y to AED 48.4 mn in 2023, according to the company’s preliminary results (pdf). The company’s revenues grew 36.5% during the period to AED 1.2 bn.
