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DP World sees 2009 pre-tax profit decline

CAIRO (AP) -- Port operator DP World, the subsidiary of debt-saddled Dubai conglomerate Dubai World, said Monday its 2009 per-tax profits fell as the global recession led to a decline in container volumes.

Dubai-based DP World said container volumes for the full year fell 8 percent across its 28 consolidated terminals compared with 2008. Excluding contributions from its new terminals, volumes fell 10 percent in what it described as the "most challenging" year for the container port industry.

Its focus on emerging markets had helped it outperform the industry as a whole, the company said. But its chief executive added that despite improvements in the second half of the year, it was difficult to predict what would happen this year.

"As anticipated, all our regions handled more containers in the second half of 2009 than in the first half and the early signs of stability seen in the third quarter have continued into the final quarter of the year," company Chief Executive Mohammed Sharaf said in a statement. "Customer confidence, whilst improving, remains fragile with limited visibility for the medium term."

Sharaf said the 8 percent decline in volumes "will lead to a decline in full year profit before tax against the same period last year."

The statement did not include financial results.

The global recession hammered international trade as economies slowed. While signs of a recovery have grown in recent months, analysts are cautious about the sustainability of the rebound.

The company's focus on cost-cutting had "mitigated the downside," with 2009's anticipated results being in line with expectations, Sharaf said. But he added that while performance had improved in the second half of the year, "predicting global trends in 2010 remains challenging."

DP World, which operates 49 terminals on six continents, including the Middle East's biggest in Dubai, is majority owned by Dubai World -- the conglomerate that served as the chief engine for growth for Dubai, one of seven semiautonomous city-states making up the United Arab Emirates.

Dubai World rattled world markets late last year by announcing that it was seeking a "standstill" -- effectively a delay -- in repayment of $26 billion of its $60 billion in debts.

The bills were amassed during a decade of growth in which the company, like Dubai itself, relied of cheap credit and easy financing to undertake multibillion dollar projects that helped transform the emirate into the Middle East's version of Las Vegas and Wall Street.

DP World, however, is not among the Dubai World units that are facing debt restructuring.

The biggest drop in container volumes was in its operations in the Americas and Australia, which fell 15 percent, DP World said.

Sharaf said 2009 was a "very challenging year for container port operators and we are pleased that we have delivered somewhat better results than the industry due to our focus on emerging markets, which have remained more resilient to the global downturn."