Net profit rose by 10.9 per cent to 13.1 million Kuwaiti Dinars ($43.4 million) in the first quarter (Q1) of this year at Kuwaiti firm Agility.
Agility’s Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization was up 12.1 per cent, to 26.2 million KD, compared with Q1 2015. Revenue for Q1 stood at 298.8 million KD, a 6.1 per cent decrease compared to same period last year.
Agility chief executive officer, Tarek Sultan says: “Agility started the year on a good note. Net profit improved 10.9 per cent, despite challenging market conditions in the Eurozone, China and the Middle East.
“Our efforts to define a clearer strategy and improve execution are paying off in stronger customer relationships, an expanding emerging market footprint, a sharper focus, and a more disciplined management approach.”
Q1 revenue for Agility Global Integrated Logistics (GIL) stood at 225.8 million KD. Net revenue improved by 0.6 per cent with margins expanding from 23.5 per cent in Q1 2015 to 26 per cent in Q1 2016.
Sultan says: “There were two major drivers for net revenue improvement in GIL this quarter. First, continued growth in contract logistics. Agility has a strong contract logistics footprint in the Middle East, Asia Pacific that is serving growing consumer demand in these markets. Second, improved yields in the freight forwarding business.”
Agility’s Infrastructure companies contributed 75.4 million KD to Q1 2016 revenues, a 4.4 per cent increase over Q1 2015.
As for the future, Sultan says: “Our longer-term target is to reach an EBITDA of $800 million by 2020. We have a demanding road ahead to achieve this target, but have also defined a clear strategy and roadmap to meet this goal.
“We continue to improve our financial performance by focusing on growing our Infrastructure portfolio of companies and simultaneously driving transformation of our core commercial logistics (GIL) business.
“As always, we would like to thank our employees, our customers, our partners and our shareholders for their support of our journey.”
