Double-digit growth for Aramex
Aramex has today (28 July) reported a net profit of AED125.7m for the second quarter (Q2) of 2016, up 36% from Q2 2015. Revenues for the quarter were up 17% to AED 1,105m.
Today’s statement about the Q2 results comes hot on the heels of reports that co-founder Fadi Ghandour has sold his stake in the company to a number of Gulf investors.
Aramex’s Half Year 2016 revenues increased year-on-year to AED 2,134m, up 15% on the first half of 2015. Net profits were up 24% to AED222.5m. Overall net profits registered double-digit growth, impacted by a one-time fair value adjustment related to Aramex’s investment in AMC Logistics joint venture in Egypt amounting to AED41.6m.
Commenting on the results, Hussein Hachem, the CEO of Aramex, said: “We are pleased with our Q2 financial performance. Despite global economic uncertainty, continuing oil price volatility and currency fluctuations, our results for the quarter were strong. However, though we finished strongly, we experienced slowing growth at the end of the quarter. We are closely watching this trend so we can quickly adjust to further volatility and remain cautiously optimistic about continuing our growth momentum into the second half of 2016.”
Aramex said that its Q2 performance was driven by growth across most of its geographies. Europe, Asia and Australia were the biggest contributors to growth, with the recent acquisition of Fastway Couriers contributing significantly to revenues. The wider Levant region also grew at a healthy rate while in the GCC we witnessed a relatively flat growth.
Strong revenue growth was also recorded in Q2 from the International Express business, primarily in the U.S., Europe and Asia regions, due to a continued increase in demand for cross border e-commerce shopping services. Growth in the freight business remained relatively stagnant as a result of the drop in global oil prices and currency fluctuations.
In a statement sent to Post&Parcel today, Aramex said that it “remains confident about extending its growth momentum and performance into the remainder of 2016”.
Aramex added: “While the global economic outlook is uncertain, it will continue to invest in its business by leveraging disruptive and innovative technologies. As part of its Rapid Scaling-Up Model, which was developed to help leverage more partnerships with delivery businesses and improve its last-mile delivery solutions, Aramex invested in a number of mobile-based start-ups this year in various global markets. Aramex also recently partnered with the UK-based global addressing platform what3words and will be integrating the system into its e-commerce fulfillment operations later this year.
“Furthermore, the recently announced global alliance with Australia Post will allow Aramex to access global markets through a unique product offering aimed at servicing the increased demand for cross-border e-commerce solutions.”
Post&Parcel was also informed this morning that there has been no official comment yet on the Bloomberg report that said Ghandour was selling his stake to Mohamed Alabbar and other Gulf investors.
