DP World first half in black, profits down

DP World first half in black, profits down    Dubai-based terminal operator DP World said Thursday its first half profit from continuing operations fell 36.8 percent to $216 million, as revenue slid 13.3 percent to $1.38 million.
   The company reported in late July that its first half container volume fell nearly 10 percent to 12.3 million TEUs, a statistic corroborated in the earnings report.
   'Excluding the contribution from those terminals, which were not included in the prior period, underlying revenue declined by 20 percent against a volume decline of 13 percent,' the company said. 'The strengthening of the U.S. dollar has also impacted our reported revenue over the last few months.'
   The company's capital expenditure was mostly tied up in development of a new terminal in Djibouti as well as expansion of its flagship Jebel Ali complex in Dubai.
   'Our business has responded well to the very challenging macroeconomic environment in the first half of this year which resulted in a 10 percent decline in container volumes,' said Mohammed Sharaf, DP World chief executive officer. 'These results show that our business model has the flexibility to adapt to changing market environments. All our terminals around the world have worked very hard to improve efficiencies for customers and remove costs from the terminals to ensure we continue to operate efficient and profitable terminals. The quick action of management has resulted in a more positive outcome than might otherwise have been.'