Aramex hails “exceptional” 2011, but prospects uncertain for 2012
Middle East-based express and logistics company Aramex achieved a 4% increase in profits and 18% increase in revenues for the fourth quarter of 2011. The company said today it was “very happy” with the AED 57.2m ($15.6m USD) net profit on a revenue of AED 580m ($157.9m USD) during the three months ending December 31.
For the full 2011 year, the company said its profits increased 4% to AED 211.5m ($57.4m USD), while revenues increased 16% to AED 2,576m ($701m USD) as Aramex added a number of acquisitions during an “exceptional” year.
Aramex acquired South African firm Berco Express, Kenyan firms OneWorld Courier and In-time Couriers, and Irish-based Aquaship Agencies last year, and also formed a joint venture with Chinese firm SinoAir to expand its presence in China.
Commenting on the performance, Aramex founder and CEO Fadi Ghandour said his firm had achieved a “remarkable result” considering the uncertainty in the global economy.
Ghandour said growth in revenues had come thanks to the strong economies in the Arabian peninsula, but that profits had been dampened by high fuel prices and investments in Africa, along with continuing troubles in some Middle Eastern countries.
He said: “While revenues recorded significant growth due to strong economic growth in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, particularly in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and the diversification of our operations into new emerging markets, our net profits recorded modest growth due to high fuel prices, increase in overheads, initial investments in our Greenfield operations in Africa, and political instability in some countries in the Middle East and North Africa region.”
Ghandour said uncertainty remained the outlook for 2012 in light of “sluggish” global trade and continuing instability in the Middle East.
“Our performance for this year is expected to maintain this trajectory and we prefer to wait til the end of the first quarter to reassess our outlook for the rest of the year,” he said.
