Aramex increased revenues by 8% in the first quarter of this year thanks to continued e-commerce growth and improved net profits by 13%.
The Middle East-based company registered double-digit net profit growth of 13% in Q1 2018 to AED 103.4 million, compared to AED 91.8 million in Q1 2017. Q1 revenue grew 8% to AED 1,190 million, from AED 1,106 million in Q1 2017, mainly attributed to the continued growth of global e-commerce activities.
Aramex's International Express business grew by 10% to revenues of AED 500 million due to the strong growth in cross-border e-commerce across most regions, specifically from Europe and the GCC markets. Asia was modestly lower in the first quarter 2018; however, the company remains confident on this region’s growth outlook for the remainder of the year.
The Domestic Express business grew by 9% to AED 265 million, driven by healthy growth in domestic e-commerce activities across Aramex’s key markets, mainly in the GCC and Africa. Freight Forwarding grew by 3% to AED 284 million, as Aramex’s Oil and Gas business in the GCC and Asia benefitted from an improving oil and gas industry.
CEO Bashar Obeid said: “We are pleased to report another quarter of strong performance, thanks to the continued growth in global e-commerce activities and the ongoing transformation and restructuring of the business. We had a good start in the first quarter of 2018, launching several strategic initiatives to support future growth and enhancing our operational efficiencies, expanding last mile capacity and accelerating our digital transformation journey.”
Iyad Kamal, Chief Operating Officer, added: “In Q1 2018 we continued to focus on redesigning our operations and creating a more efficient and customer-centric business model. We are committed to expanding our capacity, simplifying complex operational processes by upgrading our technology tools and investing in our employees across all functions to ensure we deliver service excellence.”
Commenting on the outlook for the remainder of 2018, Bashar Obeid said: "We continue to maintain a positive outlook for the year, as we expect to continue to benefit from the boom in global e-commerce activities. We expect stronger contribution from e-commerce activities to our domestic express services in the future as major e-tailers are establishing fulfilment centres in our core markets. Our focus this year will be on accelerating the digital transformation, boosting operational efficiencies and enhancing our B2B and Freight-Forwarding capabilities across the network.”
