The year started with the listing of AD Ports Group’s shares for the first time on Abu Dhabi Securities Market (ADX) and continued with remarkable achievements through to December 2022, when it was honoured to welcome His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, to inaugurate the expansion of Khalifa Port. The expansion works position Khalifa Port among the global elite of deep-water ports, with an estimated value of AED 20.4 billion.
Throughout 2022, AD Ports Group has continued to demonstrate its drive to position Abu Dhabi at the frontier of world trade, adding value to stakeholders through the expansion and improvement of services.
The Group has built new strategic relationships within the region and beyond, which has enabled the group to open new trade corridors. Through new partnerships and shipping routes, AD Ports Group is developing the highest levels of connectivity between the Arabian Gulf, the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, East Africa, and Central Asia – vital trading partners that will help drive economic growth in the region and internationally.
Major acquisitions have played a key role in AD Ports Group’s growth story in 2022. The company completed its first international acquisition in September, acquiring a 70% stake in Egypt’s Transmar and TCI, and followed that with agreements to acquire an 80% stake in Global Feeder Shipping (GFS), which will see the group significantly expand its fleet and container capacity, and a 100% stake in Spain’s Noatum, a global logistics giant.
Upon completion, these transformational investments will consolidate AD Ports Group’s position as a market leader across multiple industries, operating ports and terminals around the world, with a fleet of 175 vessels, a feeder container capacity of around 100,000 TEUs, and a global logistics brand providing specialist services across multiple territories.
H.E. Falah Mohammad Al Ahbabi, Chairman, AD Ports Group, said: “Throughout 2022, AD Ports Group has demonstrated its consistent efforts to evolve the services we offer to customers, while supporting Abu Dhabi’s aims to be a leading global hub for trade and logistics. AD Ports Group is proud to have delivered a remarkable growth story in 2022, expanding our global connectivity through new trade corridors, and becoming a truly global company through organic growth and international acquisitions.
“As we work to further develop infrastructure across assets in the UAE and beyond, our objective is to position the company as a global enabler that supports industrial growth and contributes to our leaders’ strategic aims to diversify the UAE economy.”
Capt. Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Managing Director and Group CEO, AD Ports Group, said: “2022 has been a strong and historic year for AD Ports Group and we are proud to have shown a consistent drive to advance our business model and operations. AD Ports Group has evolved from a key contributor to Abu Dhabi’s economy into a publicly listed entity with an expanding global reach that is actively transforming key industries worldwide.
We believe that there are major opportunities ahead for AD Ports Group in international markets, and we have used our time in 2022 to restructure our company into empowered business clusters that work together to achieve our strategic goals. As always, we thank the leadership of the UAE for their guidance and support, which has enabled us to move so far and so fast as a business.”
To further support its growth aspirations, the company announced several key acquisitions, such as Divetech and ASCL and joint ventures within the UAE including the launch of SAFEEN Invictus and SAFEEN Surveys and Subsea Services. These strategic initiatives opened new business segments and service offerings for its Maritime Cluster, which has emerged as one of the most dynamic in the sector.
Throughout 2022, AD Ports Group continued to build its global presence, signing agreements with port authorities and partners around the world, including contracts with the Red Sea Ports Authority for major port projects along Egypt’s coastline and with SEG, one of the largest oil and gas companies in Uzbekistan, to open new logistics and freight businesses in the Central Asian nation.
Work continued on the development of the Marsa Zayed mega-project in Aqaba, in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and the company closed the year with a number of key agreements in Africa, including one with the Africa Finance Corporation to address infrastructure gaps across the continent, and a Heads of Terms agreement with the Government of the Republic of Sudan providing a consortium led by AD Ports Group and Invictus Investment with rights to develop, manage, and operate port and economic zone assets in Sudan.
Most recently, AD Ports Group began strategic expansion of its services in the Caspian Sea and Black Sea regions, as it entered a shareholder agreement with KMTF (Kazmortransflot), a fully- owned offshore logistics and services subsidiary of the Kazakh National Oil Company (KazMunayGas). The agreement will lead to the development of a new joint venture, under which the two companies will provide broad range of services including offshore support vessels, integrated offshore logistics and subsea solutions and container feedering, ro-ro and crude oil transportation in the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea regions.
AD Ports Group also transformed its offering in the Economic Cities and Free Zones (EC&FZ) space, launching ‘KEZAD Group’ to integrate its existing trade, logistics, and industrial business grouping into one consolidated entity comprising 12 economic zones with a total area of 550 square kilometres.
The Group’s digital subsidiary, Maqta Gateway, played a key role in supporting AD Ports Group’s international expansion in multiple areas. The Advanced Trade and Logistics Platform “ATLP”, the official single window for trade in Abu Dhabi, surpassed the milestone of facilitating more than 100 million digital transactions, and Maqta Gateway also collaborated with Emirates Post Group and SkyGo to launch aerial drone trials for a flying postal delivery service.
Demonstrating the fruitfulness of AD Ports Group’s bold growth strategy, the group surpassed several key financial records in 2022. By 9M 2022, the Group’s revenue had grown 53% year-on-year to AED 1,466 million; EBITDA increased 52% to AED 594 million; and Net Profit soared 77% to reach AED 334 million.