Aramex said the net profit for the period ending December 31, 2019 climbed to Dh497.4 million. Silvia Razgova / The National
Aramex said the net profit for the period ending December 31, 2019 climbed to Dh497.4 million. Silvia Razgova / The National
Aramex said the net profit for the period ending December 31, 2019 climbed to Dh497.4 million. Silvia Razgova / The National
Aramex said the net profit for the period ending December 31, 2019 climbed to Dh497.4 million. Silvia Razgova / The National

Aramex reports 1% increase in 2019 profit on higher revenue


Fareed Rahman
  • English
  • Arabic

Aramex, the Middle East's biggest courier company, reported a 1 per cent increase in full-year net profit for 2019 on the back of higher revenue.

Net income for the period ending December 31 climbed to Dh497.4 million, the company said in a filing to the Dubai Financial Market, where its shares trade. Revenue rose 3 per cent to Dh5.2 billion. Net profit for the fourth quarter dropped 1 per cent to Dh152.5m while revenue in the last three months of the year grew 3 per cent to Dh1.4bn.

“We are pleased with our resilient performance despite headwinds emanating from regional and global economic challenges and pricing pressure on our core business prompted by shifting e-commerce dynamics,” said Bashar Obeid, chief executive of Aramex.

“In 2019, we strategically focused efforts on upgrading our operations and deepening our commitment to building a digital infrastructure that enables a higher service level to customers, more efficient processes to handle strong growth in shipment volumes and partial mitigation of impacts from pricing pressure, especially in our express business,” he said.

The company is also investing heavily in its last mile operations, one of the most critical and competitive stages of the delivery journey, he added.

Last year, international express business for Aramex grew 3 per cent to Dh2.3bn, on higher volumes from the US, UK, Singapore and Saudi Arabia. The company's domestic express business climbed 5 per cent to Dh1.1bn, driven by a rise in domestic e-commerce across GCC and Australia.

Aramex also said performance was affected by the strategic restructure of operations in India and currency fluctuations. Excluding these two factors, domestic express would have grown 13 per cent in 2019. India's economy, which outpaced most other global economies in 2018, registered the sharpest slowdown last year since 2009, as the country faces a credit crisis and a soaring level of bad loans. Asia’s third-largest economy is forecast to grow 5.8 per cent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.

In Aramex’s core markets, domestic express shipment volumes rose 27 per cent compared to 2018, driven by strong growth in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. However, the company’s freight-forwarding business declined 2 per cent to Dh1.1bn, due to continued regional economic uncertainty.

Logistics and supply chain management operations increased 18 per cent to Dh355m on the back of strong demand from traditional retailers for Aramex’s warehousing and other value-added services across key markets.

At the end of 2019, Aramex’s total cash stood at Dh1bn and free cash flow at Dh294m.

“While we anticipate shipment volumes to continue to demonstrate healthy growth in the coming year, notably from our core markets, pricing pressure on e-commerce business is expected to continue over the coming period,” said Mr Obeid.

“Our efforts in 2020 will be focused on accelerating our business transformation roadmap across different areas in the company to realise synergies and lower cost of doing business on the ground. We will also continue our aggressive roll-out of the commercial restructuring process prioritising the B2B segment, to ensure we have a well-diversified revenue mix.”

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1. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes) 1hr 21min 48.527sec
2. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Ferrari) at 0.658sec
3. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Red Bull) 6.012 
4. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 7.430
5. Kimi Räikkönen (FIN/Ferrari) 20.370
6. Romain Grosjean (FRA/Haas) 1:13.160
7. Sergio Pérez (MEX/Force India) 1 lap
8. Esteban Ocon (FRA/Force India) 1 lap
9. Felipe Massa (BRA/Williams) 1 lap
10. Lance Stroll (CAN/Williams) 1 lap
11. Jolyon Palmer (GBR/Renault) 1 lap
12. Stoffel Vandoorne (BEL/McLaren) 1 lap
13. Nico Hülkenberg (GER/Renault) 1 lap
14. Pascal Wehrlein (GER/Sauber) 1 lap
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16. Daniil Kvyat (RUS/Toro Rosso) 3 laps

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Dos

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  • Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
  • Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work 
  • Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester

Don’ts 

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THREE
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What is Folia?

Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal's new plant-based menu will launch at Four Seasons hotels in Dubai this November. A desire to cater to people looking for clean, healthy meals beyond green salad is what inspired Prince Khaled and American celebrity chef Matthew Kenney to create Folia. The word means "from the leaves" in Latin, and the exclusive menu offers fine plant-based cuisine across Four Seasons properties in Los Angeles, Bahrain and, soon, Dubai.

Kenney specialises in vegan cuisine and is the founder of Plant Food Wine and 20 other restaurants worldwide. "I’ve always appreciated Matthew’s work," says the Saudi royal. "He has a singular culinary talent and his approach to plant-based dining is prescient and unrivalled. I was a fan of his long before we established our professional relationship."

Folia first launched at The Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills in July 2018. It is available at the poolside Cabana Restaurant and for in-room dining across the property, as well as in its private event space. The food is vibrant and colourful, full of fresh dishes such as the hearts of palm ceviche with California fruit, vegetables and edible flowers; green hearb tacos filled with roasted squash and king oyster barbacoa; and a savoury coconut cream pie with macadamia crust.

In March 2019, the Folia menu reached Gulf shores, as it was introduced at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, where it is served at the Bay View Lounge. Next, on Tuesday, November 1 – also known as World Vegan Day – it will come to the UAE, to the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach and the Four Seasons DIFC, both properties Prince Khaled has spent "considerable time at and love". 

There are also plans to take Folia to several more locations throughout the Middle East and Europe.

While health-conscious diners will be attracted to the concept, Prince Khaled is careful to stress Folia is "not meant for a specific subset of customers. It is meant for everyone who wants a culinary experience without the negative impact that eating out so often comes with."

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
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Sunday
Brescia v Lazio (3.30pm)
SPAL v Verona (6pm)
Genoa v Sassuolo (9pm)
AS Roma v Torino (11.45pm)

Monday
Bologna v Fiorentina (3.30pm)
AC Milan v Sampdoria (6pm)
Juventus v Cagliari (6pm)
Atalanta v Parma (6pm)
Lecce v Udinese (9pm)
Napoli v Inter Milan (11.45pm)

Jawan
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UK%20-%20UAE%20Trade
%3Cp%3ETotal%20trade%20in%20goods%20and%20services%20(exports%20plus%20imports)%20between%20the%20UK%20and%20the%20UAE%20in%202022%20was%20%C2%A321.6%20billion%20(Dh98%20billion).%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EThis%20is%20an%20increase%20of%2063.0%20per%20cent%20or%20%C2%A38.3%20billion%20in%20current%20prices%20from%20the%20four%20quarters%20to%20the%20end%20of%202021.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EThe%20UAE%20was%20the%20UK%E2%80%99s%2019th%20largest%20trading%20partner%20in%20the%20four%20quarters%20to%20the%20end%20of%20Q4%202022%20accounting%20for%201.3%20per%20cent%20of%20total%20UK%20trade.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A