However, the company reported revenue growth of 17.7% on a reported basis, accounting for $4.07 billion in revenue over the period.

Like-for-like revenue decreased by 11.6 per cent and by 3.4 per cent, excluding the sale of Emaar land in 2019.

“The Covid-19 outbreak has undoubtedly resulted in one of the most challenging periods in the history of our industry. Our gross volumes have declined by 3.9% in 1H2020 which compares favourably against an estimated industry decline of 10%. However, our like-for-like EBITDA6, excluding land sale in the prior period, has grown by 1.1% during this period which demonstrates that we have managed costs efficiently,” DP World Group Chairman and CEO, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, said.

Going forward, DP World assumes that the future remains unpredictable, but trade is expected to rebound once economies re-open.

“Overall, we are encouraged that our business has performed better than expected given the Covid-19 pandemic and, while the outlook is still uncertain, we remain positive on the medium to long-term fundamentals of the industry,” Bin Sulayem said.

During the period , the company raised $1.5 billion through the issuance of a perpetual hybrid bond used to prepay the debt of Port and Free Zone World (PFZW), the parent of DP World, after half a year.

DP World has confirmed that it is committed to a high investment grade ranking in the medium term.

The capital expenditure of the port operator amounted to $552 million invested in the existing portfolio during the first half of the year.

Maritime Business World