AD Ports Group announced its financial results for the 12 months ended December 31, 2022, reporting strong operational and financial performance, with revenue growth of 41% year-on-year to AED 5.5 billion (+23% year-on-year to AED 4.8 billion organically).
The Group’s strong results were driven by the performance of its Maritime and Ports Clusters as well as acquisitions and new partnerships.
- EBITDA increased to AED 2.2 billion in 2022, +37% YoY (+24% YoY to AED 546 million in Q4 2022). Organically, EBITDA grew by 27% YoY to AED 2.0 billion
- EBITDA margin stood at 39.8% in 2022 (31.0% in Q4 2022)
Total Net Profit reached AED 1.3 billion in 2022, +53% YoY (+42% YoY to AED 365 million in Q4 2022) - Earnings per share (EPS) increased to AED 0.26 for the full year in 2022, up from AED 0.22 in 2021
- Operating cash flow amounted to AED 1.6 billion in 2022, implying a cash conversion of 74%
- AED 5.6 billion was spent on organic growth-oriented CapEx in 2022, as the Group continued to press ahead with its organic capital investment plans
- Free cash flow remained negative at AED 4.5 billion due to the front-loaded nature of the ongoing CapEx program, but also due to acquisitions / investments
Operationally, in the Ports Cluster, container throughput grew to 4.33 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in 2022, +28% year-on-year (+27% year-on-year to 1.17 million TEUs in Q4 2022) as utilisation of the two existing container terminals continued to improve (51% in 2022 vs. 40% in 2021 and 55% in Q4 2022 vs. 43% in Q4 2021).
On a like-for-like (LFL) basis, general cargo volumes increased by 3% to reach 31.7 million tonnes in 2022, compared with 44.6 million tonnes in 2021, which included a one-off sand supply project of 14.7 million tonnes.
In the Logistics Cluster, the key highlight in Q4 2022 was the acquisition announcement of 100% ownership of Noatum, a logistics services provider with presence in 26 countries across five continents, for an Enterprise Value of EUR 660 million. The value and earnings accretive acquisition, will, upon completion, significantly broaden AD Ports Group’s global footprint and position it among the leading logistics and freight forwarding companies in the world.
Another key highlight in Q4 2022 was the acquisition announcement of an 80% equity stake in Dubai-based Global Feeder Shipping (GFS), a global container shipping company, for an Enterprise Value of AED 2.9 billion (USD 800 million). GFS is the third largest feeder shipping business globally, operating a comprehensive service network of 20 services across the GCC, Red Sea, Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Upon completion, the acquisition, is set to position AD Ports Group as the largest pure feeder operator in the region and the third largest globally by container capacity, which will be close to 100,000 TEUs.
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