Mubadala's 2019 income surges more than four-fold as assets grow

Abu Dhabi's sovereign investors made new capital investment of Dh68bn in 2019, taking assets under management to Dh853bn

Khaldoon Al Mubarak, group chief executive of Mubadala, says 2019 was a 'remarkable' year for the company as its comprehensive income surged more than four-fold. Pawan Singh / The National

Mubadala Investment Company, Abu Dhabi’s strategic investment arm, reported more than a four-fold increase in its comprehensive income, driven by  equity and fund investments as well as growth of assets.

Comprehensive income jumped to Dh53 billion from Dh12.5bn a year earlier, Mubadala said in its annual review released on Thursday.

“Responsible deployment of capital, strong partnerships and agile investing remain at the core of Mubadala’s strategy,” Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Mubadala’s group chief executive and managing director, said.

“2019 was a remarkable year for Mubadala. Not only did we deliver strong financial results, but we also continued to grow our presence across multiple asset classes in key sectors and markets to help diversify Abu Dhabi’s economy."

The investment firm continued to diversify as it monetised a number of mature assets in 2019, realising a total of Dh63bn in funds, it said. New capital investment climbed to Dh68bn last year, taking the company’s global assets under management to Dh853bn, a 1.65 per cent annual rise, it said.

Now, as the world faces a global pandemic, the company is working across its portfolio in partnership with communities, which have been hit hard by Covid-19, Mr Al Mubarak said.

Mubadala said it concluded a number of key transactions last year as it established new partnerships to invest locally and internationally across sectors that contribute to diversification of Abu Dhabi’s economy. It pumped capital to various asset classes and sectors, ranging from credit to technology, life sciences, health care, renewables, transport and agriculture.

About 43 per cent of Mubadala’s portfolio is comprised direct and indirect investments in private equity, with 21 per cent in public markets and 11 per cent in real estate and infrastructure among others, it said.

Its two new Mena technology funds are investing $250 million (Dh917.5m) in tech start-ups in the Middle East, in line with its strategy of supporting the development of the tech ecosystem in Abu Dhabi's Hub71.

Last year, the company acquired Amana Healthcare to complement its portfolio of healthcare assets. It also signed an agreement to invest up to Dh1.8bn in Cologix, a leading hyper-scale data centre company in North America.

Mubadala is investing Dh477.4m in Equinox Gold, an emerging gold producer operating in North and South America. The company has more than Dh40bn in various funds covering real estate, equities, private equity, global infrastructure, technology and others.

Mubadala is at the heart of the government’s plans to diversify Abu Dhabi's revenue base and generate income from sources other than oil. The company’s portfolio of investments spans five continents with interests in aerospace, information and communications technology, semiconductors, metals and mining, renewable energy, oil and gas and petrochemicals.

"2019 was a remarkable year for Mubadala. Not only did we deliver strong financial results, but we also continued to grow our presence across multiple asset classes in key sectors and markets to help diversify Abu Dhabi's economy.

At home, the company has stakes in Emirates Global Aluminium; green-energy company Masdar; property developer Aldar; and a host of other companies including Abu Dhabi’s diversified investment company Aabar, which has interests in commodity trader Glencore and Italian bank UniCredit.

In May, Mubadala joined hands with industrial giant Honeywell to produce N95 face masks in the UAE as part of its drive to nurture the country’s manufacturing base and tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. Honeywell has set up a new production line with Strata, Mubadala’s wholly owned aerospace manufacturing subsidiary, at its Al Ain facility.

Mubadala’s international holdings include shareholdings in the Carlyle Group that focuses on private equity, Austria’s oil and gas entity OMV and petrochemicals manufacturers Borealis and Nova Chemicals.

In recent years Mubadala pivoted to investing in the technology sector and looking at putting money in life sciences and the medical technology sector.

Earlier this month Mubadala took a 1.85 per cent stake in Reliance Industries’ Jio Platforms for $1.2bn, becoming the latest investor alongside social media network Facebook and KKR, to invest in the digital and wireless business in India.

In March, Mubadala joined a consortium that is investing $2.25bn in Waymo, the self-driving technology company owned by Google’s parent Alphabet. In February, it announced an investment of €1bn (Dh4.17bn) in the French investment fund that will be managed by the country’s national investment bank, Bpifrance.

“In 2019, we continued to manage our balance sheet carefully, with a prudent debt-to-equity ratio of 11.8 per cent," said Carlos Obeid, Mubadala's chief financial officer.

"With a strong cash position, we will continue to look for opportunities in public funds and private assets as we manage through this complex economic cycle, while remaining a long-term, patient investor.”