Dubai-based port operator DP World's half-year profits fall nearly 60 per cent, in part over Red Sea attacks

DUBAI: Dubai-based port operator DP World reported on Thursday its half-year profits fell by nearly 60 per cent, in part over the ongoing attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels over the Israel-Hamas war that have affected shipping through the Red Sea.

DP World reported profits of USD 265 million this year, down from USD 651 million the same time last year. DP World Group's chairman and CEO, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, acknowledged that the Red Sea disruptions affected the firm's revenues.

“The year 2024 has been marked by a deteriorating geopolitical environment and disruptions to global supply chains due to the Red Sea crisis,” he said in a statement included in the results. “While the near-term trading outlook remains uncertain due to macroeconomic and geopolitical headwinds, the resilient financial performance of the first half ... positions us well to deliver stable full year adjusted" profits.

Bin Sulayem did not elaborate on what specific effects the Houthi attacks had been having on DP World, a government-owned shipper that in recent years removed itself from the Nasdaq Dubai stock exchange.

The Houthis since November have been targeting shipping through the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. The assaults have disrupted the $1 trillion of goods that flow annually through the region, while also sparking the most intense combat the US Navy has seen since World War II.

The rebels maintain that their attacks target ships linked to Israel, the United States or the UK as part of a campaign they say seeks to force an end to the war. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict.

Shippers have begun going around the Cape of Good Hope off Southern Africa to avoid the Red Sea entirely. The rerouting has affected shipping through Dubai's Jebel Ali Port, the home of DP World and the world's largest manmade harbour.

DP World already had faced challenges through the coronavirus pandemic, but the Houthi attacks have seen it affected while the long-haul carrier Emirates, another Dubai government-owned entity, have soared.