Dubai-based ports operator DP World said its half-year profit fell by nearly 60 percent as ongoing attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels over the war between Israel and Hamas affected ship traffic through the Red Sea.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Dubai-based ports operator DP World said on Thursday its half-year profit fell by nearly 60 percent as ongoing attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels over the war between Israel and Hamas affected ship traffic through the Red Sea.
DP World reported a profit of $265 million this year, down from $651 million in the same period last year. DP World Group Chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem acknowledged that turmoil in the Red Sea had affected the company's bottom line.
“2024 was marked by a deteriorating geopolitical environment and disruptions to global supply chains due to the Red Sea Crisis,” he said in a statement announcing the results. “While the short-term trading outlook is uncertain due to macroeconomic and geopolitical headwinds, our strong first-half financial performance positions us to deliver stable adjusted profit for the full year.”
Bin Sulayem did not elaborate on how specifically the Houthi attacks were affecting DP World, the government-owned shipping company that recently exited the Nasdaq Dubai stock exchange.
The Houthis have been targeting shipping in the Red Sea corridor since November over Israel's war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, attacks that have disrupted the flow of $1 trillion worth of goods through the region annually and sparked the U.S. Navy's heaviest fighting since World War II.
The rebels claim the attacks targeted ships linked to Israel, the United States and Britain and were part of a campaign to end the hostilities, but many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict.
Shipping companies have begun detouring around the Cape of Good Hope off the coast of South Africa to avoid the Red Sea altogether, a rerouting that is affecting shipping through Dubai's Jebel Ali port, home to DP World and the world's largest man-made port.
DP World, already struggling through the coronavirus pandemic, has been hit by the Houthi attacks while Emirates, another long-haul airline owned by the Dubai government, has soared.
