Media reports indicated that Iran-backed Houthi rebels had threatened to target Haifa, Israel’s largest port, which is operated by APSEZ.
The decline followed Israel’s strikes on military and nuclear sites in Iran earlier in the day, which reportedly resulted in the deaths of key military commanders and nuclear scientists, heightening fears of a broader regional conflict.
The attack is expected to jeopardise the US-Iran nuclear talks set for Sunday in Oman.
The strikes had a significant impact on the Asian markets, including India. India’s headline index Nifty fell by over 400 points or 1.6% to hit the day’s low of 24,473 while the BSE Sensex plunged by over 1,300 points to touch the bottom of 80,354.59/.
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The selling pressure was seen across sectors with banks, auto, and energy stocks getting most severely punished.Other major Asian indices were also down, reacting to the development. While Japanese Nikkei and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng were down by nearly 1% around 1:30 India time, China’s Shanghai Composite index and Singapore’s FTSE Straits Times Index were down 0.4% each. In its Q4FY25 quarterly filings to the exchanges, APSEZ said that the company has made significant progress on Haifa Port on both fronts viz. integration with APSEZ processes, including the appointment of a senior leadership team at the site and the signing of a union agreement in April 2025. The agreement will lead to significantly higher productivity and efficiency at the port, the filing had claimed, adding that during FY25, Haifa Port’s Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 36% YoY.
The company had posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results with a 50% year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 3,023 crore for the quarter ended March 2025, compared to Rs 2,025 crore a year earlier. Revenue rose 23% to Rs 8,488 crore, while EBITDA climbed 24% to Rs 5,006 crore, reflecting broad-based strength across the company’s ports, logistics, and marine services businesses.
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