The Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), the sovereign wealth fund that has stakes in companies such as Emirates airline and Emirates NBD, said its net profit fell by 3.8 per cent last year, as income from its discontinued operations fell.
Net income attributable to shareholders declined to Dh22.9 billion compared with Dh23.8bn in 2014, ICD said yesterday.
Profit from discontinued operations declined to Dh2.29bn compared with Dh6.16bn in 2014, it said. Revenue from oil and gas and services fell to Dh49.67bn in 2015 from Dh71.2bn a year earlier.
ICD integrated its stake in Dubai Aluminium into Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Global Aluminium in 2013, to create one of the world’s biggest aluminium companies.
The corporation received Dh16.1bn for its share. The payment was received partly in cash – Dh7bn – and partly in the form of a 50 per cent stake in EGA.
Dubai has fared well because it is not as reliant on hydrocarbons. The UAE as a whole is also trying to boost non-oil industries such as EGA.
This push comes at a time when many Arabian Gulf countries are seeking to transform their economies to make them less dependent on oil.
Sultan Al Mansouri, the Minister of Economy, said last year that the UAE as a whole was aiming to nearly double the manufacturing industry’s share of the economy from 11 per cent to 20 per cent by 2025.
mkassem@thenational.ae
Follow The National's Business section on Twitter
