DP World debt $7.6b; leveraging 3.2 times

|By Arabian Post Staff|DP World’s gross debt rose to $7.6 billion, with the net debt climbing to $6.2 billion, the company announced in its financial results for the calendar year 2015. The balance sheet shows a leverage of 3.2 times.

The increase in debt is mainly due to the addition of the $650 million JAFZA Sukuk following the EZW acquisition and the additional $500 million borrowings from the GMTN programme and $500 million draw down of the term loan.

But overall, the company said balance sheet remains strong with ongoing strong cash generation and there is plenty of headroom and flexibility to add to the portfolio should favourable assets become available at attractive prices.

Total capital expenditure remained below the guidance as the second phase of Terminal 3 was delayed due to prevailing conditions. Capital expenditure in 2015 was $1,389 million, with maintenance capital expenditure of $186 million. The company expects 2016 capital expenditure to be in the range of $1.2 billion to 1.4 billion as it eyes adding further capacity at Jebel Ali, EZW and London Gateway (UK).

Group Chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed  bin Sulayem pointed out how challenging market conditions in 2015 adversely impacted the performance. “Over the past twelve months, weaker currencies have made trade more expensive for importing countries, softer commodity prices have hurt economies reliant on natural resources, and geopolitical issues have contributed to uncertainty in domestic demand,” he said.

Despite the challenging market conditions , the company reported a revenue growth of 16 percent to $2.9 billion for the calendar year of 2015. The UAE region delivered another record throughput year with 15.6 million TEU handled, while Europe outperformed a difficult market. This resulted in revenue of $2,911 million, up 22.0% year-on-year aided by the acquisition of EZW.

The company invested $1,230 million in the region during the year. Investment was focused across the Middle East and Europe including Jebel Ali (UAE), EZW (UAE), DP World London Gateway Port (UK) and Yarimca (Turkey).

The Asia Pacific and Indian Subcontinent region delivered a strong financial performance due to continued growth from joint ventures and associates. Volume growth was broadly flat as growth in Asia was subdued while capacity constraints impacted our ability to grow in Mumbai (India) during the first half of 2015. Revenue grew by 4.4% to $414 million while our share of profit from equity-accounted investees rose 14.0% to $111 million mainly due to the strong performance in China, Hong Kong and Indonesia.