Waha Capital, the diversified investment company based in Abu Dhabi, has registered a net profit of Dh214.44 million ($58.3 million) for 2012, up 38.1 per cent compared to Dh155.31 million the year before with key portfolio companies performing well despite global economic challenges.

The Abu Dhabi group said its operating income rose 21.1 per cent to Dh464.21 million in 2012 compared to Dh386.50 million in 2011.

In the fourth quarter of 2012, the company's net profit nearly doubled to Dh183.47 million, from Dh92.95 million for the same period last year mainly due to the company's share of profit from its interest in aviation investee companies, it added.

Waha Capital said the increase in profit was mainly due to strong performances from our investee companies, including New York -listed Aercap and Dunia Finance.  

Aercap was one of the main drivers of the company's earnings in 2012, as Waha Capital’s stake in the aircraft leasing firm rose to 26.3 per cent from 21.3 per cent owing to its decision not to participate in AerCap’s share buy-back initiative, it added.
 
Commenting on the results, Hussain Jasim Al Nowais, the chairman of Waha Capital, said, “This was a strong year for Waha Capital, especially given the difficult global trading environment. The company is now positioned well for growth in the coming years,” said Al Nowais.

“We have taken important strategic decisions to structure the company with an aim to generate attractive and sustainable returns for our shareholders in the future, and have full confidence that the company will deliver the desired results,” he noted.  

Salem Rashid Al Noaimi, the CEO and managing director of Waha Capital, said: “We have an excellent investment team in place and a strong pipeline of potential investments, where we believe we can add value and achieve attractive returns. Operationally, we will maintain a prudent approach to financial management, and continue to focus on increasing our efficiency in the way we manage our assets.”
 
According to him, the value of Waha Capital’s assets stood at Dh4.44 billion as of December 31, 2012, compared with Dh4.2 billion a year earlier.

Al Noaimi said Waha Capital's key portfolio companies saw positive developments in 2012.

"The New York Stock Exchange-listed AerCap signed $1.5 billion of new financing and made significant improvements to its fleet in 2012. The company purchased 20 new aircraft, delivered 35 aircraft under lease and signed lease agreements for 47 aircraft," he noted.

"Over the course of the year, the company had sold 70 aircraft as part of a strategy to maintain a young fleet, reducing the average age of its aircraft to 5.1 years from 5.8 years. AerCap now oversees a portfolio of 333 aircraft, either owned or managed, and total assets of $10 billion," he added.

Al Noaimi pointed out that in 2012, AerCap had continued with a share buy-back initiative which began the previous year. "Waha Capital chose not to participate in the 2012 programme, resulting in an increase in the company’s stake in AerCap to 26.3 per cent, from 21.3 per cent at the end of 2011," he explained.

Stanford Marine Group (SMG), an oil and gas services firm in which Waha Capital has a 49 per cent stake, recorded a utilization rate of 90 per cent in 2012 and successfully renewed charters for 11 vessels.

The company also took delivery of two new vessels, both of which are now currently under charter. SMG extended its reach into East Africa, successfully tendering for a new contract in Tanzania.

Meanwhile, Grandweld, the company’s shipbuilding arm, has established a new ship repair division in Fujairah and obtained a new contract to design, build and deliver two crew boats for Fujairah National Group, said the Abu Dhabi company in its statement.

SMG also inaugurated a new shipbuilding facility in Dubai Maritime City, which should allow for significant additional capacity,  it added.

Dunia Finance, which was co-founded by Waha Capital and in which Waha Capital has a 25 per cent stake, too continued its strong growth with net income increasing four-fold in 2012, said Waha.

The company's revenues rose 37.4 per cent to Dh267 million, as the customer base grew by 28 per cent to 113,600 and loans increased by a third in 2012, it stated.

The company also established Dunia Services, a company that provides business outsourcing services to financial and other institutions.
 
Waha Land, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Waha Capital, completed the first phase of its light industrial and warehousing development Almarkaz in 2012, said Al Al Noaimi.

"The project is seeing strong leasing interest in all its offerings, including serviced land plots, single units ranging from 250 to 12,000 sq m, as well as potential for build-to-suit and turn-key options. A number of leasing contracts are in final stages of completion," he added.-TradeArabia News Service