AD Ports Group on Wednesday announced its financial results for the 12 months ended December 31, 2022, reporting strong operational and financial performance, with revenue growth of 41 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Dhs5.5 billion (+23 per cent year-on-year to Dhs4.8 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 (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) increased to Dhs2.2 billion in 2022, +37 per cent YoY (+24 per cent YoY to Dhs546 million in Q4 2022). Organically, EBITDA grew by 27 per cent YoY to Dhs2 billion. EBITDA margin stood at 39.8 per cent in 2022 (31 per cent in Q4 2022).

Total net profit reached Dhs1.3 billion in 2022, +53 per cent YoY (+42 per cent YoY to Dhs365 million in Q4 2022). Earnings per share (EPS) increased to Dhs0.26 for the full year in 2022, up from AED0.22 in 2021.

Operating cash flow amounted to Dhs1.6 billion in 2022, implying a cash conversion of 74 per cent. Dhs5.6 billion was spent on organic growth-oriented capital expenditure (CapEx) in 2022, as the Group continued to press ahead with its organic capital investment plans.

Free cash flow remained negative at Dhs4.5 billion due to the front-loaded nature of the ongoing CapEx programme, 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 per cent year-on-year (+27 per cent year-on-year to 1.17 million TEUs in Q4 2022) as utilisation of the two existing container terminals continued to improve (51 per cent in 2022 vs. 40 per cent in 2021 and 55 per cent in Q4 2022 vs. 43 per cent in Q4 2021).

On a like-for-like (LFL) basis, general cargo volumes increased by 3 per cent 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.

Ro-Ro (Roll-on/roll-off) and Cruise Passenger volumes also rebounded strongly on the back of the abated effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the Economic Cities & Free Zones (EC&FZ) Cluster, 4.2 sq km of new leases (net) were signed in 2022.

In the Maritime Cluster, all operational indicators - vessel fleet, port calls, container feedering volumes, transhipment volumes, marine services activities - recorded strong growth.

In the Logistics Cluster, the key highlight in Q4 2022 was the acquisition announcement of 100 per cent ownership of Noatum, a logistics services provider with presence in 26 countries across five continents, for an Enterprise Value of €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 per cent equity stake in Dubai-based Global Feeder Shipping (GFS), a global container shipping company, for an Enterprise Value of Dhs2.9 billion ($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 regions. 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.

In September 2022, AD Ports Group also completed the acquisition of a 70 per cent stake in International Associated Cargo Carrier (IACC) in Egypt, which fully owns Transmar and TCI, for an Enterprise Value of Dhs514 million ($140 million).

In total, the Group inked seven mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions in 2022, totalling Dhs5.9 billion, with GFS, Noatum, and Eskan Al Jamae yet to be completed.