National Central Cooling Co. ‘Tabreed’, the Middle East’s award-winning district cooling pioneer, has posted a net profit of AED 32.5 million for the first half of 2006, up from AED 31.5 million over the same period last year.
Tabreed’s revenues are at AED 231.4 million which represents approximately a 21% increase over the same period in 2005. Profit from operations soared to AED 105.6 million compared to AED 86.5 million over the same period in 2005.
At the end of the period, the company’s total assets increased to AED 3.04 billion from AED 2.6 billion in December 31, 2005. Shareholder's equity expanded to AED 1.2 billion up from AED 1.14 billion at the end of 2005.
Commenting on the company’s first half results, Tabreed’s Chairman, Mr. Mohamed Saif Al Mazrouei said: “Despite the seasonal nature of the cooling business where chilled water consumption peaks during the summer and fall seasons in the third and fourth quarters, Tabreed has managed to pull off very good results for the first six months of 2006 in terms of productivity and profitability.
“Results reflect the company’s fast growing pace in gaining market share of the vast cooling and air conditioning market. The company’s contract volume is expected to double in capacity to reach 200,000 Tons of Refrigeration (TR) towards the end of this year in comparison to 97,000 TR in 2005.
“In addition to our strong business progress, Tabreed had a very successful half-year in terms of business expansion. During the period, Tabreed has officially inaugurated Saudi Tabreed in alliance with a strategic partner in the Kingdom. With the launch of Saudi Tabreed, our company is now represented in almost every GCC state, which allows us to capitalise on significant regional business opportunities.”
Tabreed recently launched in the local, regional, and international capital markets a US$ 200 million Islamic Sukuk offering with a Maturity Date of July 2011 which will be listed on London Stock Exchange. The capital raised will be mainly used to finance current Tabreed’s cooling plants and future identified expansion projects.
Tabreed’s sukuk was rated BBB-/Stable by Standard & Poor. Karl Marietta, the company’s Chief Financial Officer said: “This transaction will help Tabreed consolidate its global leading market position and support its aggressive growth plans while further solidifying its capital structure.”
Tabreed is a UAE public joint stock company established in June 1998 and is now one of the world’s largest district cooling utilities. Tabreed provides district cooling services throughout the GCC countries with offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah, Doha, Manama, Al Khobar and Muscat. The company has been growing at a very rapid pace and was awarded two gold awards in 2004 by the International District Energy Association in the USA for new customers by the number of buildings it serves and by the cooling load. The company has recently been assigned a BBB- rating with a stable outlook by Standard and Poor’s – the world's foremost provider of independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data.
© 2006 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
