ELS Posts 6 Billion Birr in Annual Profit

ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics (ESL) secured more than 6 Billion Birr in gross profit from services the company offered during the 2022/23 fiscal year.

The state-owned company achieved 112% of the 5.4 Billion Birr target set for the year, the new CEO Beriso Amelo said Monday.

Beriso was appointed last year, becoming only the third CEO of the company formed following a merger of four state-owned enterprises – Ethiopian Shipping Lines, Ethiopian Maritime and Transit Service, Dry Port, and Comet Transport – in 2011.

The multimodal operator handles most of Ethiopia’s multimodal ocean freight, Slot Carrier and Charter, in addition to operating logistics hubs and centers.

Speaking at a press briefing today, CEO Beriso said the ESL’s operations in most of its services were able to achieve their targets set for the June-ended fiscal year.

Per his report, the company transported over 4.9 million tons of cargo using slots in its own and chartered carriers, attaining 105% of its target – 3.89 million tons.

ESL Performed Better amid challenges

The ESL handled 84% of its cargo service through unimodal operations which carried over 1.69 million tons of import and 281333 tons of export goods via Djibouti ports.

Its multimodal operations also saw 92,144 Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) containers and 3,658 vehicles transported from the port to logistical hubs in Ethiopia.

The CEO put the performance at 114% of the plan to transport 80,796 TEUs during the June-ended fiscal year.

Beriso attributed the increasing operations to the higher-than-expected annual profit for the company which had a 5.4 billion birr profit target.

The ESL secured more than 6.06 Billion Birr and achieved 112% of the plan, said Beriso.

The company, however, fell 20 million US Dollars short of its foreign exchange earnings target of half a billion USD and secured 90.4% or 42.73 Billion Birr of its annual revenue planned for the year.

The overall performance was better than the preceding year, noted the CEO, despite headwinds stemming from the Covid pandemic and the Ukraine-Russia war. Security-related problems in the country also had their own impact on ESL operations, per ESL.

ESL Plans for New port options, ships

The multimodal operator now has set a 6.7 Billion Birr profit target in its operation plan for the current Ethiopian fiscal year.

The plan involves increasing its cargo volume, expanding cross trading in markets outside Ethiopia, and activities to utilize more port options including Kenya’s Lamu.

New dry ports will be built in Moyale and Hawassa to facilitate its operations if the plan to use the Lamu port materializes, per ESL whose officials are pushing for the 20 Billion Birr capital to expand further.

The company will also work on its plan to acquire new vessels this year after bringing in a new vessel to replace two of its fuel tankers.

The new Chinese-made ship has the capacity to transport 63,229 tons of cargo per trip, making it the biggest carrier among ESL’s 10 fleet.

The Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics (ESL) – the only national Flag carrier in Africa, operates Shipping and Logistics Services to 345 international ports.