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Agility quarterly profit up 11pc to US$49.6 million as sales fall 6pc

KUWAIT's Agility Logistics second quarter net profit increased 11 per cent to KWD15 million (US$49.6 million), drawn on revenues of KWD309 million, which fell six per cent year on year.

"We started the year on a good note and are sustaining this momentum as the year progresses," said Agility CEO Tarek Sultan.

"Within our global integrated logistics business, we are making gains even in the face of a challenging freight forwarding market because we have found ways to be more efficient, improve productivity," he said.

Q2 revenue for Agility Global Integrated Logistics (GIL) stood at KWD233 million, a 10 per cent year on year, mainly due to the low shipping and fuel rates in the market.

Net revenue remained flat when adjusted at constant currency rates, with quarterly margins expanding 27 per cent.

But Agility's GIL was able to record volume growth in its core air and ocean markets and is focusing on products and markets that are growing despite sluggish overall volumes, the company said.

"Growing demand for contract logistics in emerging markets coupled with improved yields in the freight business and better commercial discipline has resulted in margin expansion within GIL," said Mr Sultan.

Agility's Infrastructure group of companies contributed KWD80 million to second quarter 2016 revenues, a 12 per cent increase compared to the same period of last year.

The companies provide a broad spectrum of logistics-related services including: bulk fuel storage and transport, industrial real estate; airport and ground handling services; and commercial real estate and facilities management.

"We are continuing to improve our financial performance by growing our infrastructure portfolio and simultaneously driving transformation of our GIL business," said Mr Sultan.

Agility is a publicly traded company with $4.3 billion in revenue and more than 22,000 employees in 500 offices across 100 countries.