AD Ports Group reported a 35 percent increase in sales to AED 1.2 billion ($335 million) thanks to the maritime and economic cities & free zones (EC&FZ) clusters.

“The Q22022 port cluster revenue performance was hampered by an unfavorable base effect from the one-time sand supply contract that ran from March to October 2021. On a comparable basis, the port cluster's revenue grew 20 percent year-on-year in Q22022,” says a release detailing the results. announced.

EBITDA increased 41 percent year-over-year to AED 532 million ($144 million) and EBITDA margin improved nearly 200 basis points to 42.8 percent.

Net profit rose 59 percent to AED 300 million ($81 million) despite higher depreciation charges and higher borrowing costs, the statement said.

“The momentum of our growth trajectory accelerated in the first half of the year and we expect to continue delivering our performance for the remainder of the year,” said Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Managing Director and Group CEO, AD Ports Group. “We are grateful to our wise leadership for their continued support for our efforts to drive UAE economic growth, diversification and industrialization. The Group's core businesses have continued to recover from the severe supply chain disruptions experienced last year, while our new ventures, an improved service offering and a diversification strategy into synergistic new activities have delivered positive results.

“In Q22022, we continued to invest heavily to deliver future growth. In addition, we have also benefited from the macro picture in the Gulf region, and in particular in the UAE. Not only have oil prices soared, which accelerated the country's economic growth, including the non-oil economy, but AD Ports Group is also well positioned to be one of the main beneficiaries of Abu Dhabi's industrial strategy, which aims to more than double the size of the manufacturing sector to AED 172 billion ($46 billion) by 2031."

Consolidated capital expenditures during Q22022 reached AED 1.6 billion ($432 million) with the three main recipients, in order of quantum, being the Maritime Cluster (Fleet Expansion), Port Cluster (Khalifa Port Expansion and Etihad Rail Connectivity) and the economic cities & Free Zones Cluster (new warehouses, gas network expansion and infrastructure related investments to unlock additional land), added the release.