DP World announced throughput growth of 3.2% and profit growth of 29.9% in 2016, maintaining a “flexibility to capitalise” on growth opportunities in the sector.

Throughput for full year 2016 was 63.7m teu, revenue was $4.2bn and profit stood at $1.3bn – the first time the group’s net income has surpassed $1bn.

DP World group chairman and chief executive, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, said: “Encouragingly, our volumes have continued to grow ahead of the market with gross volumes growing 3.2% versus Drewry full year market estimate of 1.3%. This is pleasing given the significant challenges parts of our portfolio have faced, and once again demonstrates the resilient nature of our diversified portfolio.

“While 2017 is expected to be another challenging year for global trade, we have made an encouraging start to the year and we expect to continue to deliver ahead-of-market volume growth. Our aim is to continue our disciplined approach to capital allocation in markets with strong growth potential while adding complementary or related services to further diversify and strengthen our business.”

DP World’s strong cash generation and investment partnerships give it the option to invest in the future, Mr Sulayem continued.

“We continue to believe that a portfolio which has a 70% exposure to origin and destination cargo and 75% exposure to faster growing markets will enable us to deliver enhanced shareholder value over the long term.”