Dubai: The Dubai headquarter logistics operator Aramex recorded a steep 27 per cent decline in 2022 profit to Dh163.37 million from Dh225.54 million, on revenues that came in 2 per cent lower at Dh5.92 billion.

While demand and order volumes held up in the UAE and Gulf markets, Aramex took a hit from the lockdowns in China, the ‘overall slower economic growth and lower consumer confidence as well as the global inflationary environment’. To add to that, revenues were hurt by currency devaluation in some markets, primarily in Lebanon and Egypt.

Stabilising margins

A top Aramex official was looking for the positives, which include stabilizing ‘gross profit margin for the group, as well as for our domestic and international express products’. “We grew our freight product by 27 per cent while increasing its gross profit by 51 per cent,” said Othman Aljeda, CEO. “And for our logistics product, we focused on quality revenue and reached 85 per cent utilization of our warehouses while increasing gross profit by 58 per cent.

“This was supported by the solid growth in our home markets in the GCC and other MENAT countries, which also contributed to a good performance in our main outbound markets including the US and UK.

“We now have a more diversified customer base than ever before, with no single customer making up more than 7 per cent of our revenue, thus reducing our concentration risk.”

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