Dubai-based logistics company, Aramex, has announced its financial results for the first quarter, ended 31 March, citing net profit growth of 13 per cent.

Aramex has reported €23.5 million in Q1 2018 net profit growth compared to €20.8 million in Q1 2017.

“We are pleased to report another quarter of strong performance, thanks to the continued growth in global e-commerce activities and the ongoing transformation and restructuring of the business,” said Aramex CEO, Bashar Obeid.

“We had a good start in the first quarter of 2018, launching several strategic initiatives to support future growth and enhancing our operational efficiencies, expanding last mile capacity and accelerating our digital transformation journey,” he said.

“In Q1 2018 we continued to focus on redesigning our operations and creating a more efficient and customer-centric business model,” said Aramex Chief Operating Officer, Iyad Kamal.

“We are committed to expanding our capacity, simplifying complex operational processes by upgrading our technology tools and investing in our employees across all functions to ensure we deliver service excellence,” he said.

Aramex's International Express business grew by 10 per cent to €113.5 million due to the strong growth in cross-border e-commerce across most regions, specifically from Europe and the GCC markets. Asia was modestly lower in the first quarter 2018; however, the company remains confident on this region’s growth outlook for the remainder of the year.

The Domestic Express business grew by nine per cent to €60 million, driven by healthy growth in domestic e-commerce activities across Aramex’s key markets, mainly in the GCC and Africa.

Freight Forwarding grew by three per cent to €64.5 million, as Aramex’s Oil and Gas business in the GCC and Asia benefitted from an improving oil and gas industry.

"We continue to maintain a positive outlook for the year, as we expect to continue to benefit from the boom in global e-commerce activities,” said Obeid.

“We expect stronger contribution from e-commerce activities to our domestic express services in the future as major e-Tailers are establishing fulfillment centres in our core markets. Our focus this year will be on accelerating the digital transformation, boosting operational efficiencies and enhancing our B2B and Freight-Forwarding capabilities across the network.”