Agility 1st quarter profit up despite lower volume

Agility 1st quarter profit up despite lower volume    Kuwait-based logistics company Agility said Tuesday its first quarter profits rose 16.4 percent over the same period in 2008.
   Agility’s first quarter net profits reached $10.6 million, despite its commercial division seeing 20 percent to 30 percent drops in volume, a result of slackening global demand for logistics services. The company’s defense and government services division, which includes contracts with the U.S. military, was unaffected by the global economic crisis, the company said.
   “Despite the decline in top-line performance of our commercial business, (the logistics division’s) net revenue margin increased to 31 percent as a result of our ability to reduce costs by procuring at competitive rates through major suppliers,” Agility said.
   Tarek Sultan, chairman and managing director of Agility, said the company has been able to expand its cash reserves by 25 percent from the previous period.
   “The growth in our operating profits (before non-recurring items) is a testament to our transformation — which has enabled us to expand our net revenue margin — and our ability to control operating expenses,” Sultan said. “Our strategy of diversified but complementary businesses has also been able to generate healthy results for our shareholders.”