Waha Capital reports AED 87.6 million net profit in Q1 2017

ABU DHABI, May 11, 2017: Waha Capital PJSC, a leading investment company based in Abu Dhabi (ADX: WAHA), has reported a net profit of AED 87.6 million for the first quarter of 2017.

The company’s asset management division, which manages capital markets, and private equity and private debt investments, continued to deliver strong returns and now accounts for just over two thirds of total income. Meanwhile, the majority of portfolio companies held by the principal investments division, including AerCap Holdings NV and NPS Holdings Ltd., gave solid financial and operational performances.  

Net profit for the quarter was reduced from the AED 175.8 million in the first quarter of 2016, partly due to an adjustment of AED 58.8 million against the share of income from AerCap Holdings NV, following a conservative reassessment of the recoverable amount on the company’s stake in AerCap.  

Waha Capital produced a return on average equity of 2.4 percent in the first quarter, while total assets increased 4.9 percent year on year to AED 10.5 billion as at the end of March 2017. During the first quarter, Waha Capital’s shareholders approved a 2016 dividend of AED 0.20 per share, representing 90 percent of last year’s net profit.

Salem Rashid Al Noaimi, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Waha Capital, said:

“Waha Capital manages a well-balanced portfolio of investments that is delivering a solid performance despite a difficult operating environment for some sectors. The majority of our portfolio companies are giving robust operational and financial performances, including AerCap Holdings, NPS Holdings, and Waha Land. Meanwhile, Anglo Arabian Healthcare, held by our private equity division, has become a major healthcare provider in the UAE and has high growth potential. Our asset management business has delivered truly excellent performance from its credit and equity funds, and is now an important revenue stream. We intend to continue to build this business, adding private debt to our asset mix and offering this as a new fund to regional investors.”

Waha Capital has invested significant seed capital in its funds, which are also currently being marketed to third-party investors. Assets under management totalled AED 1.6 billion as of 31 March 2017.

The Waha MENA Equity Fund produced a total return of 4.9 percent during the first quarter, building on an 18 percent return during 2016. Another equity fund, the Waha MENA Value Fund has given a total return of 1.2 percent in the first quarter. Meanwhile, the Waha CEEMEA Fixed Income Fund produced a 6.0 percent total return in the first quarter, having delivered a 20 percent return in 2016.

Waha Capital is also in the process of launching a new fund – Waha Private Debt Fund – by committing US$ 50 million as a seed investment into this fund.

Within the asset management division, income from capital markets was AED 83.4 million in the first quarter, compared to AED 98.6 million a year earlier, representing 31 percent of Waha Capital’s total income. The private equity platform, which holds UAE healthcare provider Anglo Arabian Healthcare as an asset, reported a 5.2 percent rise in total income to AED 86.2 million.

Meanwhile, total income from principal investments totalled AED 99.3 million in the first quarter, compared to AED 152.8 million a year earlier.

The income contribution from NPS Holdings, in which Waha Capital has a 20.7 percent stake, continued to increase. The oil and gas services company recorded a 7 percent rise in revenues to AED 200.9 million. The company secured AED 105.9 million worth of contracts in the first quarter, bringing the total value of current contracts to AED 2.28 billion.

AerCap Holdings continued to give a steady performance in the first quarter. The world’s biggest aircraft leasing company executed 105 aircraft transactions and signed financing transactions worth $7.2 billion.

Waha Land, a wholly owned company of Waha Capital, continued to make significant progress on the next phase in its growth, having arranged a AED 426 million financing package last year for further development of its ALMARKAZ light industrial real estate project.    

The financial performance of consumer finance firm Dunia Group, in which Waha Capital holds a 25 percent stake, was impacted by a sector-wide slowdown. The firm has increased its customer base by 265,000 in the last year, but has taken a prudent approach to extending finance in the context of a slowing economy, reducing its loan portfolio by almost 10 percent over the last year to AED 1.9 billion.