Infrastructure earnings offset declining logistics revenues at Agility

Kuwait-based freight forwarder Agility reported a net profit of US$51.59 million in its third quarter financial results for 2016, an increase of 11 percent over Q3 2015. Third-quarter EBITDA, meanwhile, rose 19 percent, year-over-year, to $94.97 million, despite revenues falling 7 percent, y-o-y, to $1.03 billion.

Logistics revenues declined 8 percent, y-o-y, to $751.4 million in Q3 2016. In airfreight, the Kuwaiti forwarder said that business “grew considerably” in terms of volume, but cited a “tougher yield compared to the prior year quarter,” which resulted in flat net revenue. “The main impact to net revenue shortfall remains in the general slowdown in our Project Logistics business as a result of the slowdown in the oil and gas market,” said Tarek Sultan, Agility’s CEO.

Agility’s group of companies that offers logistics-related services contributed $282.32 million to third-quarter 2016 revenues. A strong showing in real estate, the largest contributor to Agility’s profitability, and a three-year, $165 million contract to support the United Nations, once again made infrastructure the most profitable branch within the Agility group.

Agility’s subsidiary NAS, which operates ground-handling and aviation services around the world, also won a 10-year concession to operate lounges in nine airports in Morocco.

“The world around us will continue to pose challenges,” Sultan said. “Trade forecasts are gloomy and geopolitical uncertainty prevails in key geographies for our business. While we cannot control the external environment, we can make strategic choices in order to continue to grow our business and maximize shareholder value even in the face of these challenges.”