DP World has announced robust financial results for the calendar year ended 31 December 2020, with revenue growing 11% year-on-year to $8.53bn and adjusted EBITDA by 0.4% to nearly $3.32bn.
Revenue growth was supported by acquisitions and full-year contribution from Topaz Energy & Marine and P&O Ferries; like-for-like containerised revenue was up 1.8%.
EBITDA held steady at $3.3bn in 2020, with adjusted EBITDA that excluded one-off land sale in 2019 decreasing just 0.8% year-on-year on a like-for-like basis, which the company said showed “resilience of the wider portfolio.”
Cash flow from operating activities increased 17.8% y-o-y to $2.90bn as DP World “focused on managing costs to preserve cash,” while free cash flow (post cash tax and maintenance capital expenditure) improved 19.0% to almost $2.45bn.
“We are delighted that our portfolio has performed better than expected and, in a year like no other, to deliver flat volumes, stable EBITDA and free-cashflow growth is a remarkable achievement,” commented DP World Group chairman and ceo Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, pointing out that the company had also de-listed its equity from the stock exchange and returned to private ownership in 2020.
“The strength and resilience that our business continually demonstrates throughout the cycles is due to the investment the Group has made over the years in response to changes in our industry,” he said. “Our ability to adapt and change has been the key to our success, and we must continue to evolve for continued growth.”
One example of that investment is in the innovative BoxBay container high bay storage system concept, a test facility for which has been installed at DP World’s flagship facility in Jebel Ali (pictured) and earlier this month successfully completed its first 10,000 moves.
Source: Seatrade Maritime
