The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) reported a 14.6 per cent increase in its fourth-quarter profit, boosted by higher demand for the utility’s electricity, water and cooling services amid continued growth momentum in the emirate.
Profit before other comprehensive income in the three months to the end of December climbed to Dh1.8 billion ($490 million), Dewa said on Thursday in a statement to the Dubai Financial Market, where its shares are traded.
The company’s revenue rose 5.5 per cent annually to Dh7.1 billion.
Dewa’s total power generation in the fourth quarter reached 13.4 terawatt-hours, up nearly 8 per cent over the same period in 2022.
Desalinated water production in the latest reported quarter reached 36.2 billion imperial gallons, a 5.3 per cent increase over the same period a year earlier.
Dewa said it added 11,163 customers in the fourth quarter, with total customers exceeding 1.2 million.
Dubai, one of the main commercial, tourism and financial hubs of the Middle East, has maintained growth momentum since bouncing back from the pandemic-driven slowdown.
Demand for water, electricity and cooling services in Dubai is rising amid the emirate's economic resurgence and population growth.
The emirate is continuing to witness strong population growth, with an addition of 100,240 residents in 2023. The city currently has more than 3.65 million residents, as per Dubai Statistics Centre.
Dubai’s economy expanded by an annual 3.3 per cent in the first nine months of last year, driven by growth in the emirate's tourism and transportation sectors, government data showed in January.
For the full-year 2023, Dewa recorded a 1.4 per cent drop in net profit to Dh7.9 billion despite a 7 per cent increase in revenue to record Dh29.2 billion.
The company said demand for electricity soared to a high of 56.5 terawatt-hours last year, marking a 6.3 per cent increase over 2022.
Clean power accounted for 11 per cent of the total electricity generated in 2023, the utility said.
“We have delivered significant results and record-breaking milestones for Dewa. We have achieved the highest annual revenue and operating profit in Dewa’s history,” said Saeed Al Tayer, managing director and chief executive of Dewa.
“I am optimistic about our operating and financial outlook for 2024 and beyond.”
The UAE, Opec's third-largest producer, has been investing heavily in clean energy projects, ranging from nuclear to solar, to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
Last year, Dewa joined forces with Dubai-based Emirates National Oil Company to develop and operate a joint integrated pilot project for the use of hydrogen in mobility.
Dewa may also explore a project involving batteries this year as the share of renewable energy increases in the Dubai utility’s overall mix, Mr Al Tayer said in November.
One of Dewa’s key renewable energy projects is the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park in the world.
It has a planned production capacity of 5,000 megawatts by 2030 using solar photovoltaic panels and concentrated solar power with total investments of Dh50 billion.
When completed, the solar park is expected to reduce 6.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually.
“Our strategy, growth pillars and capital commitments are well positioned to deliver on our energy transition ambitions,” Mr Al Tayer said.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Zayed Sustainability Prize
WandaVision
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany
Directed by: Matt Shakman
Rating: Four stars
The biog
Favourite film: Motorcycle Dairies, Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday, Kagemusha
Favourite book: One Hundred Years of Solitude
Holiday destination: Sri Lanka
First car: VW Golf
Proudest achievement: Building Robotics Labs at Khalifa University and King’s College London, Daughters
Driverless cars or drones: Driverless Cars
The bio
Job: Coder, website designer and chief executive, Trinet solutions
School: Year 8 pupil at Elite English School in Abu Hail, Deira
Role Models: Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk
Dream City: San Francisco
Hometown: Dubai
City of birth: Thiruvilla, Kerala
INDIA SQUAD
Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami
Under 19 Cricket World Cup, Asia Qualifier
Fixtures
Friday, April 12, Malaysia v UAE
Saturday, April 13, UAE v Nepal
Monday, April 15, UAE v Kuwait
Tuesday, April 16, UAE v Singapore
Thursday, April 18, UAE v Oman
UAE squad
Aryan Lakra (captain), Aaron Benjamin, Akasha Mohammed, Alishan Sharafu, Anand Kumar, Ansh Tandon, Ashwanth Valthapa, Karthik Meiyappan, Mohammed Faraazuddin, Rishab Mukherjee, Niel Lobo, Osama Hassan, Vritya Aravind, Wasi Shah
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
THE DRAFT
The final phase of player recruitment for the T10 League has taken place, with UAE and Indian players being drafted to each of the eight teams.
Bengal Tigers
UAE players: Chirag Suri, Mohammed Usman
Indian: Zaheer Khan
Karachians
UAE players: Ahmed Raza, Ghulam Shabber
Indian: Pravin Tambe
Kerala Kings
UAE players: Mohammed Naveed, Abdul Shakoor
Indian: RS Sodhi
Maratha Arabians
UAE players: Zahoor Khan, Amir Hayat
Indian: S Badrinath
Northern Warriors
UAE players: Imran Haider, Rahul Bhatia
Indian: Amitoze Singh
Pakhtoons
UAE players: Hafiz Kaleem, Sheer Walli
Indian: RP Singh
Punjabi Legends
UAE players: Shaiman Anwar, Sandy Singh
Indian: Praveen Kumar
Rajputs
UAE players: Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed
Indian: Munaf Patel
Results:
CSIL 2-star 145cm One Round with Jump-Off
1. Alice Debany Clero (USA) on Amareusa S 38.83 seconds
2. Anikka Sande (NOR) For Cash 2 39.09
3. Georgia Tame (GBR) Cash Up 39.42
4. Nadia Taryam (UAE) Askaria 3 39.63
5. Miriam Schneider (GER) Fidelius G 47.74
Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Brief scores:
Everton 0
Leicester City 1
Vardy 58'
Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
'Outclassed in Kuwait'
Taleb Alrefai,
HBKU Press
Spec%20sheet
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