Abu Dhabi-based Tabreed annual profit up 20 per cent

Tabreed connected over 118,000 tons of cooling (RT) to customers during the year, more than half of which were delivered in the UAE.

Tabreed connected more than 118,000 tonnes of cooling to customers during the year. Courtesy Tabreed

The cooling company Tabreed has announced a 20 per cent increase in net profit for 2014, boosted by a 14 per cent annual increase in tonnes of cooling capacity delivered throughout the region. The Abu Dhabi-based utility said on Thursday that net profit rose to Dh325.7 million last year, compared with Dh272.4m in 2013.

Tabreed connected more than 118,000 tonnes of cooling to customers during the year, more than half of which were delivered in the UAE. The company’s total connected capacity across its GCC footprint stood at 957,000 tonnes at the end of the year.

“Our core chilled water business continues to perform well and exceed growth forecasts, with total connected capacity across the group now approaching 1 million tonnes of cooling delivered to many of the region’s most critical landmarks and infrastructure projects,” said Tabreed’s chairman Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi.

“We continue to see a rise in demand for district cooling across the GCC, especially in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, where we connected over 31,000 [tonnes] and 16,000 [tonnes], respectively.”

Among the company’s notable contracts for 2014 were a renewed Dh6 billion master services agreement with the UAE Armed Forces, and a Dh1.05bn 30-year concession to provide cooling to developments on Abu Dhabi’s Al Maryah Island in conjunction with Mubadala Infrastructure Partners.

Tabreed’s shares closed down 1.7 per cent at Dh1.15 in trading on Thursday.

Follow The National's Business section on Twitter