Agility has reported Q3 2020 earnings of 8 fils per share on a net profit of KD*15.3m, a decrease of 29.4% compared with the same period in 2019. EBITDA declined 1.9% to KD46.5m, and revenue was flat at KD403m.
Global Integrated Logistics (GIL) Q3 EBITDA was KD18.5m, a 35.2% increase from the same period in 2019. The improvement was primarily driven by significant cost reductions across the business.
GIL’s Q3 net revenue was KD71.4m, 5.1% higher than the same period in 2019. Along with net revenue increases in Air Freight and Contract Logistics, there were net revenue declines in Ocean Freight, Fairs & Events and Project Logistics. GIL gross revenue was KD305.7m, a 7.3% increase from the same period in 2019.
Air Freight net revenue increased by 39.1% year-on-year, driven by continued demand in the Life Sciences vertical. Ocean Freight net revenue declined 14.5% when compared with Q3 2019, due to volume and yield compression. Both Air and Ocean Freight volumes decreased in Q3 compared to the same period in 2019, as a result of customers’ demand and production disruption arising from COVID-19 as well as capacity constraints.
Contract Logistics continues to experience strong growth (12.7% net revenue growth), mainly in the MEA Region (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE), where there was a strong performance at new facilities, along with increased efficiencies. Fairs & Events (F&E) has been hurt significantly by COVID-19 related event postponements and cancellations.
Agility’s Infrastructure Companies
Agility’s Infrastructure group EBITDA declined 16.5% to KD31.6m during the third quarter. UPAC, NAS and GCS were primarily responsible for the decrease, each reporting significant declines as a result of the pandemic. In contrast, Agility Logistics Parks (ALP) and Tristar proved resilient during this pandemic. Infrastructure group net revenue fell 24.4%, and gross revenue declined by 15%.
ALP experienced revenue growth of 5.6% in the third quarter. ALP continues to see increased demand for warehousing spaces from customers that are mainly suppliers of necessity goods. ALP is moving ahead with the developments in Kuwait, Saudi and Africa to meet customers’ demand.
Tristar posted a 15.9% revenue decline mainly due to commercial fuel sales. The Maritime segment has shown a healthy growth due to the deployment of new vessels on long term contract. Fuel Farm segment also reported an increase in revenue as compared to the same period last year.
National Aviation Services (NAS) reported a Q3 revenue decrease of 46.1% but is beginning to see improvements in passenger traffic and flights. NAS Kuwait continues to suffer from the cap imposed by the government on the number of passengers and flights into/out of Kuwait International Airport.
At GCS, Agility’s customs modernisation company, revenue fell 30.2% in Q3 2020 year-on-year due to a decline in trade movement, though the negative impact of COVID-19 eased during Q3.
Source: Agility
* $=KD0.31/ €=KD0.36
