Abu Dhabi's Bayanat more than doubles 2022 net profit on revenue boost

The G42-owned geospatial data products and services provider started trading on the ADX in October last year

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. Bayanat's IPO attracted significant demand from investors. Photo: ADX

Bayanat, a geospatial data products and services provider which listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange in October, more than doubled its net profit last year as revenue surged in line with improving business performance.

Net income for the 12-month period to the end of December climbed to Dh202.3 million ($55 million), up from Dh96.28 million the previous year, Bayanat said in a statement to the ADX on Sunday.

Revenue for the company, which is a unit of Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence and cloud computing company G42, rose to Dh788 million, up about 115 per cent from a year earlier.

"The group witnessed significant increase in revenues, profits, assets and equity, which is mainly driven from improvements in the current business financial performance, in line with the management's strategic vision," the company said.

Bayanat will continue to "enhance" its core activities, it added.

The company's shares closed up 0.82 per cent at Dh4.90 on Friday and are up fourfold from its listing price of Dh1.10.

The company's initial public offering attracted significant demand from investors, with gross demand for its shares reaching Dh57.5 billion — an oversubscription of 379 times excluding cornerstone investors and 90 times on aggregate.

Cornerstone investors include private equity company Silver Lake, which manages more than $92 billion in combined assets, and Abu Dhabi-based International Holding Company.

The first and only listed geospatial intelligence company in the Middle East and North Africa region, Bayanat last year said it planned to invest in research and development and explore inorganic growth opportunities.

“We will now focus on further strengthening our AI solutions powered by our geospatial technology, international expansion, inorganic growth and new JVs creation and partnerships,” Hasan Al Hosani, chief executive of Bayanat, said ahead of its IPO.

“We are confident that listing on ADX will deliver the increased investment, support and profile we need to achieve these ambitions.”

Bayanat was created following the commercialisation of the UAE's Military Survey Department, a sector of the Armed Forces.

It provides national-level mapping and geospatial products and services for the public and private sectors in the UAE.

G42 acquired the company in 2020.

Bayanat's IPO followed a flurry of listings in the UAE and wider region, where investor demand has been strong as economies rebound at a quicker pace from the coronavirus-induced slowdown and liquidity has been shored up by high oil prices.

Among the companies that listed on the ADX last year were Abu Dhabi healthcare provider Burjeel Holdings, which raised more than Dh1.1 billion from an 11 per cent stake sale; Borouge, the joint venture between Adnoc and Austrian chemicals producer Borealis; and the Abu Dhabi Ports Group, the operator of industrial cities and free zones in the emirate.

Overall, 12 companies in the UAE listed last year, raising $11 billion, in addition to the joint Abu Dhabi-Riyadh listing of Mena food franchisee Americana, which raised $1.8 billion in late 2022, according to EFG Hermes Research.

The wider GCC region raised about 23 per cent ($21 billion) of the total $91 billion raised in all IPOs worldwide last year. That was up from the region's share of 2 per cent ($10 billion) of the total amount raised by issuers globally in 2021, the report said.

Looking ahead, the IPO pipeline for this year looks strong as governments and private companies are keen to sell equity while there is strong interest in the region, EFG Hermes said.