Aramex, a leading global provider of comprehensive logistics and transportation solutions based in Dubai, UAE, said its revenue for the first quarter grew 8 per cent to Dh1.19 billion ($324 million) from last year's Dh1.1 billion ($299 million), thanks to the robust growth in the global e-commerce activities.

Announcing the financial results for first quarter ended March 31, 2018, Aramex said it has registered a double-digit growth of 13 per cent in its net profit for the three-month period which hit Dh103.4 million, over Dh91.8 million last year.

The UAE-based company's international express business grew by 10 per cent to Dh500 million due to the strong growth in cross-border e-commerce across most regions, specifically from Europe and the GCC markets.

Asia was modestly lower in the first quarter 2018; however, the company remains confident on this region’s growth outlook for the remainder of the year.

The Domestic Express business grew by 9 per cent to Dh265 million, driven by healthy growth in domestic e-commerce activities across Aramex’s key markets, mainly in the GCC and Africa.

Freight Forwarding grew by 3 per cent to Dh284 million, as Aramex’s Oil and Gas business in the GCC and Asia benefitted from an improving oil and gas industry.

CEO Bashar Obeid said: "We are pleased to report another quarter of strong performance, thanks to the continued growth in global e-commerce activities and the ongoing transformation and restructuring of the business."

"We had a good start in the first quarter of 2018, launching several strategic initiatives to support future growth and enhancing our operational efficiencies, expanding last mile capacity and accelerating our digital transformation journey," he added.

Iyad Kamal, the chief operating officer at Aramex, said: "In Q1 2018 we continued to focus on redesigning our operations and creating a more efficient and customer-centric business model."

"We are committed to expanding our capacity, simplifying complex operational processes by upgrading our technology tools and investing in our employees across all functions to ensure we deliver service excellence,” noted Kamal.

Commenting on Aramex’s 2018 outlook, Obeid said: "We continue to maintain a positive outlook for the year, as we expect to continue to benefit from the boom in global e-commerce activities."

"We expect stronger contribution from e-commerce activities to our domestic express services in the future as major e-Tailers are establishing fulfillment centers in our core markets. Our focus this year will be on accelerating the digital transformation, boosting operational efficiencies and enhancing our B2B and Freight-Forwarding capabilities across the network," he added.-TradeArabia News Service