DP World, a leading global marine terminal operator, said that due to unpredictable trends in global trade, the volume of its business has declined 10 per cent in the first four months of 2009.

The declaration was made today (May 28) by Mohammed Sharaf, CEO of DP World, at the company’s annual general meeting for the year 2008.

“As reported on the 25 March 2009, 2008 was another year of excellent performance for DP World where our focus on the faster growing emerging markets and origin and destination cargo allowed us once again to outperform the market,” said Sharaf.

“Profit after tax was in excess of $600 million and cash generation in excess of $1 billion,” he added.

“As highlighted in our preliminary results, the unpredictable trends in global trade have continued into 2009, resulting in a volume decline across our business of 10% for the first four months of the year.  The UAE region continues to be less impacted than other regions.

“Our focus on cost reduction has mitigated the impact of the decline in volumes on margins and profitability so far this year.  However, the unpredictable trends in global trade continue and it is too early to comment with any certainty on the volumes and earnings outcome for 2009.” – TradeArabia News Service