Strong express growth, particularly for international e-commerce shipments, offset weaker freight demand and helped Aramex to increase profits by 15% in the second quarter of 2015.
The Middle East-based group increased April – June revenues by 6% to AED 967 million (€238m) while net profit improved by 15% to AED 92.6 million (€22.8m). Following a robust Q1 performance, Aramex's half-year revenues increased by 7% to AED 1,896 million and net profits went up by 12% to AED 179.2 million.
Aramex said it delivered strong and broad-based revenue growth across its geographies, despite currency fluctuations, in the second quarter. Overall net income was extremely healthy, with strong performances across all of its territories, while the GCC remained the key driver of this growth.
“Significant revenue growth was recorded from both the International Express and Domestic Express businesses due to a continued increase in demand for global online shopping services particularly in the GCC, Europe and North America,” the company stated.
Australia’s MailCall, acquired in 2014, contributed positively to Domestic Express as did an increase in demand for domestic services for both businesses and individuals in key markets, specifically Egypt, KSA and India.
However, growth in the Freight business was negatively impacted by the recent drop in global oil prices and currency fluctuations, while Logistics recorded a particularly strong performance mostly driven by growth in core GCC markets and South Africa.
Commenting on the results, CEO Hussein Hachem said: “We have once again delivered an excellent set of results this quarter. While we’ve had a strong double-digit net income, our revenues would have reached 10% had we not been faced with weak global currencies. We are generally pleased with our business performance and particularly with our global e-commerce business solutions.”
Regarding Aramex’s outlook for the remainder of 2015, Hachem stated: “We continue to invest in our future, transforming ourselves into a technology enterprise selling business solutions, staying light in asset while managing the process of supply and demand. We will also continue to seek potential acquisitions in the second half of 2015, for companies sharing the same synergy with us, and for that we have been made available a new line of credit from a consortium of banks in the UAE.
“While we remain confident about extending our growth momentum and performance into the remainder of 2015, the impact of global oil prices and weak major currencies continue to be areas we will carefully monitor moving forward,” he concluded.
