Dubai, UAE – Aramex, the Middle East’s biggest courier company, reported Thursday that its net profit for the first quarter fell by 49 percent YoY to AED24 million ($6.54 million), mainly due to currency devaluation in certain markets and interest expenses associated with the acquisition of MyUS.
Gross profit in Q1 2023 was up 4 percent to AED358 million ($97.5m) compared to AED344 million ($93.7m) in Q1 2022, while the corresponding gross profit margin for Q1 2023 was reported at 25 percent.
The company said its revenues — which declined marginally by 1 percent YoY to AED 1.43 billion — were driven by stable performance in International Express and the resilience of the freight-forwarding and logistics and supply chain solutions businesses.
Revenue continued to be impacted by currency fluctuations, inflationary pressures, and normalization of worldwide shipping flows.
Othman Aljeda, Chief Executive Officer of Aramex, said, “In a quarter when our industry globally continued to face headwinds from cost inflation, base rate rises, softening shipment volumes and FX fluctuations, we are proud to present a stable and resilient financial and business performance for the first three months of 2023.”
Aljeda said the continued growth in the GCC economies and the expectation that inflationary pressures around the world may peak and then decline significantly show some signs of optimism towards the end of the year.