The Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), the emirate's sovereign wealth fund with strategic holdings that include Emirates airline, Emirates Global Aluminium and lender Emirates NBD, posted a 21.4 per cent decline in full-year net profit for 2016, as the transport sector took a hit and the fund benefited in 2015 from a one-off gain from the sale of aviation services company Standard Aero.
Net profit for equity holders in the 12 months ending December 31 reached Dh17.99 billion compared with Dh20.89bn in 2015, the fund said in a statement on Nasdaq Dubai. Revenue dipped 0.5 per cent to Dh176.31bn from Dh177.14bn in 2015.
ICD attributed the net profit plunge to "increased competitive pressure on yields" in its transportation segment and to a 2015 gain from discontinued operations following the sale of Standard Aero, a unit of Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE), an aircraft leasing and maintenance company in which ICD has an 80.53 per cent stake. DAE sold Standard Aero to an affiliate of private equity firm Veritas Capital for Dh5bn, booking a gain of Dh2.07bn, according to ICD's financial statements.
Profit at Emirates airline in the financial year ending March 31 fell by 82.5 per cent year-on-year to Dh1.25bn as the airline industry suffered from rising capacity, lower demand because of terrorism fears and a slowdown in oil-based economies. Low-cost carrier flydubai, also owned by ICD, reported a 69 per cent decline in its earnings in 2016 because of the challenging operating environment
"In 2016, the portfolio of ICD demonstrated resilience by delivering a strong operational and financial performance despite challenging market conditions," said Mohammed Al Shaibani, executive director and chief executive of ICD, according to the news agency Wam. "ICD remains focused on expanding its capabilities and investing in opportunities that will support long-term growth and enhance the prosperity of Dubai."
Nearly 55 per cent of ICD's total revenue came from transportation and related services last year, followed by oil and gas products and services with 25 per cent.
The biggest drop in revenue came from oil and gas products and services, which declined 11 per cent to Dh44.20bn from Dh49.66bn. Holdings in the energy and industrial segment of its portfolio are in diversified energy company Enoc, cable manufacturer Ducab and Emirates Global Aluminium.
ICD also has stakes in Nasdaq Dubai and Dubai Islamic Bank, the emirate's largest Sharia-compliant lender.
Total assets grew 6.9 per cent to Dh769.9bn from Dh720.08bn in 2015.
Transportation makes up about 18.2 per cent of ICD's portfolio, finance and investments accounts for 33.4 per cent, energy and industrial investments take up 17.4 per cent, real estate and construction 16 per cent, hospitality and leisure 12.3 per cent, while retail and hospitality represent 2.7 per cent, according to the fund's website.
Other sovereign wealth funds, including International Petroleum Investment Company (Ipic) and Mubadala Development Company, which have since merged into the US$125 billion Mubadala Investment Company, swung to profit last year as their investment policies paid off.
Ipic was back in the black last year despite weaker oil prices, as margins improved and its asset impairment charges declined.
In its last annual report as a separate company, Ipic said total profit from continuing operations was just over US$400 million, versus a loss of $2.6bn the previous year.
In its last annual report, Mubadala Development said its diverse capital section accounted most for the improvement in profit, posting a 64 per cent increase to Dh3.9bn.
The language of diplomacy in 1853
Treaty of Peace in Perpetuity Agreed Upon by the Chiefs of the Arabian Coast on Behalf of Themselves, Their Heirs and Successors Under the Mediation of the Resident of the Persian Gulf, 1853
(This treaty gave the region the name “Trucial States”.)
We, whose seals are hereunto affixed, Sheikh Sultan bin Suggar, Chief of Rassool-Kheimah, Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon, Chief of Aboo Dhebbee, Sheikh Saeed bin Buyte, Chief of Debay, Sheikh Hamid bin Rashed, Chief of Ejman, Sheikh Abdoola bin Rashed, Chief of Umm-ool-Keiweyn, having experienced for a series of years the benefits and advantages resulting from a maritime truce contracted amongst ourselves under the mediation of the Resident in the Persian Gulf and renewed from time to time up to the present period, and being fully impressed, therefore, with a sense of evil consequence formerly arising, from the prosecution of our feuds at sea, whereby our subjects and dependants were prevented from carrying on the pearl fishery in security, and were exposed to interruption and molestation when passing on their lawful occasions, accordingly, we, as aforesaid have determined, for ourselves, our heirs and successors, to conclude together a lasting and inviolable peace from this time forth in perpetuity.
Taken from Britain and Saudi Arabia, 1925-1939: the Imperial Oasis, by Clive Leatherdale
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Sand storm
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HWJN
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
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Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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THE LOWDOWN
Photograph
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