Aramex Q1 Net Profit Rises 22 Percent

Aramex Q1 Net Profit Rises 22 Percent

Aramex posted a 22 percent rise in first-quarter net profit on Tuesday, driven by higher revenue from the Gulf and contributions from its recent South African acquisition

April 24, 2012 9:12 by kippreport

Aramex posted a 22 percent rise in first-quarter net profit on Tuesday, driven by higher revenue from the Gulf and contributions from its recent South African acquisition. The Dubai-based logistics firm made a first-quarter net profit of 61 million dirhams ($16.6 million), compared with 50 million dirhams for the same period last year. Revenues rose 25 percent to 746 million dirhams, Aramex said in a bourse filing.

“These results were mainly due to the robust economic growth in the GCC, and the significant contribution of our recent acquisitions in 2011, in particular Berco Expressin South Africa,” said Fadi Ghandour, founder and CEO. Aramex had in December last year paid $55.5 million for the acquisition of South African logistics firmBerco Express.

The company also signed a partnership agreement in March with South Korea’s CJ GLS, an unlisted unit of CJ Cheiljedang, a food-to-entertainment conglomerate. The deal will enable Aramex to provide express and freight services to South Korea and follows the firm’s launch of a joint venture in China with Sinotrans Air Transportation in November.

Aramex remains focused on its strategy of expanding into emerging growth markets in Africa, South East Asia and Central Asia. Ghandour is to step down by the end of 2012 and hand over day to day operations to Hussein Hachem, the current head of the Middle East and Africa regions, the company announced last week.

(Reporting By Mirna Sleiman; Editing by Dinesh Nair)