Aramex targets 2-3 buys in 2016, incentives provision hit Q4 profit

DUBAI: Dubai-based courier Aramex expects to purchase 2-3 firms in 2016, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

It will target Africa, Asia and United States for these acquisitions, Aramex chief executive Hussein Hachem told reporters at a company event.

The logistic firm's chief financial officer Bashar Obeid said Aramex had provisioned $12.5 million for incentives in 2015. These provisions could fall to about $5 million in 2016 and $2.5 million in 2017, Obeid added.

Aramex reported a 36 percent drop in fourth-quarter net profit earlier on Wednesday, a decline it blamed on a provision relating to an employee incentive scheme.

Aramex last month said it bought Fastway Couriers' New Zealand and Australian business for NZ$125.28 million ($80.59 million).