Abu Dhabi's IHC triples net profit on strong performance across units

UAE's most valuable listed company grows revenue by 48% in the three-month period to the end of September

Al Seer Marine, a subsidiary of International Holding Company. Photo: IHC

International Holding Company, the UAE's most valuable listed company, tripled its net profit in the third quarter of 2022, driven by a robust performance across all its operational assets.

Net profit attributable to the owners of the company for the three month period to end of September reached more than Dh6.4 billion ($1.7bn), compared with Dh2.1bn in the same period of last year, IHC said in a statement on Tuesday to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares are traded.

Revenue for the third quarter grew by about 48 per cent to Dh12.4bn.

IHC was founded in 1998 as part of an initiative to diversify and develop non-oil business sectors in the UAE. The company had a market value of about Dh736 billion at the close of trading on Tuesday.

“This is an outstanding result of which we can all be proud. It reflects the strength that IHC has developed in recent years,” Syed Shueb, IHC’s chief executive, said.

Continued momentum in strategic direct and indirect acquisitions, locally and internationally, were the main drivers behind the growth rate above the previous year's quarter, the company said.

The initiatives raised the company's total assets to Dh198.8bn in the July-September period from Dh64.4bn in third quarter of last year.

The key contributors to the total current assets include Alpha Dhabi Holding, Q Holding, International Securities, Al Seer Marine and Multiply Group, IHC said.

Net profit attributable to the owners of the company in the first nine months of the year rose 129 per cent on the year to more than Dh10.8bn, as revenue grew by more than 87 per cent to Dh34.3bn.

The company’s total cash and bank balances stood at Dh31.8bn in the September quarter against nearly Dh20.3bn last year.

The company’s acquisition total value in the third quarter crossed Dh13.5bn, which included the Dh10bn Taqa deal, Dh1.8bn in Kalyon Enerji, Dh1.5bn in Burjeel Holding and Dh250 million in Emircom, in which IHC acquired a majority stake.

IHC aims to publicly list more of its companies on the ADX growth markets.

The company has grown to become one of the most valuable listed holding companies in the Middle East and also expanded into countries like India and Turkey.

IHC's acquisitions in the three-month period were focused on supporting its future growth plans in strengthening its operations across targeted sectors such as technology, which included a 55 per cent shareholding in Cyber Gate Defence and completing a 15 per cent cornerstone investment in Bayanat after the quarter's end, it said.

It said that the company aims to deepen its investment in this space by building a giant technology holding arm by 2024.

Last month, IHC also made a foray into the South American market with a Dh734m investment in a Colombian company. It launched $2.1bn bid — through its subsidiary IHC Capital — to buy a stake in Colombia's Grupo Nutresa.

Going forward, IHC will continue to seek “sizeable acquisitions in the fourth quarter” to boost its bottom line, it said.

“IHC plans to remain focused on global market expansion, we have set an ambitious long-term goal to grow the number of our global business acquisitions by 70 per cent in the next 12 months,” Mr Shueb said.

“Our strong financial performance positions us well to enter new territories. IHC’s expansion and acquisition appetite will remain robust ahead, as we continue to focus on our capabilities which is informing our growth path, including how we approach acquisitions, as this is one of our competitive advantages.”