Logistics firm Aramex delivers upbeat 2024 numbers - will stake sale be next?

Dubai: As anticipation builds whether it will be bought over, the DFM-listed logistics firm Aramex confirmed upbeat 2024 results that could add more weight to any deal that materializes.

It was recently that Aramex confirmed Abu Dhabi’s Q Logistics was interested in acquiring the company and sent a formal offer document. Aramex shareholders have to take a decision on the offer in 30 days.

The Aramex stock price is just 10 fils away from its 52-week high of Dh2.93, with most market analysts suggesting that the company will go ahead with the Q offer.

The Q's bid price for Aramex is Dh3 a share.

Meanwhile, the Aramex Board of Directors has been told that the buyout offer is fair and can be passed on to shareholders for their thumbs up.

The third-party evaluator HSBC 'considers the offer to be fair from a financial perspective for Aramex's shareholders, and has approved to recommend the offer' to them.

'A shareholders' circular with the recommendation of the Board of Directors, including the fairness opinion of HSBC, will be published' soon.

In 2024, the Dubai headquartered Aramex saw its revenues firm up 11% to Dh6.32 billion, which delivered an equally solid 10% improvement in net profit to Dh141.8 million.

Aramex’s main business lines all pitched in, including the international and domestic express services. The GCC and wider Middle East came up with double-digit gains in revenue and gross profitability, while in the Oceania territory, the ‘turnaround journey’ continued.  

“Domestic volumes were up 11%, international express volumes were up 20% and our contract logistics business is operating near full capacity,” said Othman Aljeda, CEO of Aramex. “What this means is that we are seeing more demand for local deliveries through our domestic express solutions, and a shift from long-haul cross border to shorter and intra-regional cross border activity through our international express product and trucking business.”

That’s all helping out Aramex's operating margins.

Gross profitability for the consolidated international and domestic express product was up 8%. The contract logistics product also had gross profitability up 8%, while 'freight forwarding was resilient with a 4% decline in gross profitability due to increasing competition and industry pricing pressure as well as cost inflation'.

According to the CEO, “Our diversified business model and disciplined cost management ensured financial stability despite macroeconomic challenges and increase in investments associated with our expansion strategy.

"2025 will be about smart, efficient growth—scaling our business while maintaining operational discipline and driving innovation across our network.”

For the immediate future, the focus will be on that Q Logistics' offer...