Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

P&O Ferries owner reports record-breaking profits after mass sacking

P&O Ferries owner reports record-breaking profits after mass sacking

DP World called ‘corporate gangster’ after announcing half-year profits of £600m

The Dubai-based owner of P&O Ferries has been accused of behaving like “corporate gangsters” after celebrating record-breaking profits just months after sacking 800 of its UK-based workers without notice.

DP World, which is ultimately owned by the Dubai royal family, said in March that firing 786 P&O seafarers and replacing them with much cheaper agency workers was the only way to ensure the “future viability” of the historic ferry business.

However, on Thursday Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, DP World’s chair and chief executive, announced the company had increased its first-half revenues by 60% to $7.9bn (£6.6bn) and profits had risen by more than 50% to a record $721m.

“We are delighted to report a record set of first-half results with … attributable earnings [profits] rising 51.8%,” he said in the company’s earning’s statement on Thursday. “Overall, the strong first-half performance leaves us well placed to deliver improved full year results.”

DP World did not give separate details on the performance of its ferries business in its results, but the bulk of revenues and profits come from other divisions. It operates ports in 78 countries on six continents including London Gateway and Southampton, and bought P&O in 2006 for £3.3bn.

DP World had told a parliamentary inquiry that P&O “had no future” unless it sacked the workers. At a Commons hearing in March, Peter Hebblethwaite, the boss of P&O, said the company had chosen to break the law and sack the 800 workers without notice or consultation because “no union could accept our proposals”.

The staff were told in video calls on the ships that it was their “final day of employment” and ordered off the ferries.

Hebblethwaite’s testimony prompted MPs to ask whether he was a “shameless criminal”, but he insisted he would “make this decision again”.

However, Hebblethwaite told an industry conference in May: “We have not conducted ourselves on the day, or since, in anything like the way that has been suggested of me and us.”

Frances O’Grady, the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), on Thursday accused DP World of making “eye-watering profits … off the backs of P&O illegally sacking hundreds of dedicated staff”.

“DP World have been allowed to get away scot-free with behaving like corporate gangsters,” she said. “They are an insult to common decency.

“Ministers should have stripped DP world of all their lucrative public contracts and severed all commercial ties with the company.”

The TUC has written to the Insolvency Service, which is carrying out criminal and civil investigations into the company, saying its directors should be disqualified.

The Insolvency Service investigation is being watched closely by the government, which has said it is unable to take direct action against the directors of P&O Ferries despite the company admitting to breaking the law.

Boris Johnson had initially promised to take legal action in the courts against the company, but a week later it emerged that this was not the case, and that the government would instead rely on the Insolvency Service investigation.

Proposed legislation the government said would ensure P&O and other ferry operators pay seafarers the minimum wage was outlined during the Queen’s speech earlier in May. However, port operators and the TUC both cast doubt on whether the proposed laws would have any effect in practice.

When it announced the sackings P&O said it had “made a £100m loss year on year” which had been “covered by our parent DP World”.

“This is not sustainable,” the company said. “Our survival is dependent on making swift and significant changes now. Without these changes there is no future for P&O Ferries.”

The company had asked the government for a £150m bailout after trade collapsed during the pandemic. However, the government turned down the request for help after it was reported to have paid out £270m in dividends to investors.

At the time a DP World spokesperson said the £270m of dividends related “to a delisting process, which was announced pre-Covid-19 and which DP World is legally obliged to pay”.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
×