The Abu Dhabi skyline. Alpha Dhabi has grown into a conglomerate with interests in construction, health care, hospitality and industry. Victor Besa / The National
The Abu Dhabi skyline. Alpha Dhabi has grown into a conglomerate with interests in construction, health care, hospitality and industry. Victor Besa / The National
The Abu Dhabi skyline. Alpha Dhabi has grown into a conglomerate with interests in construction, health care, hospitality and industry. Victor Besa / The National
The Abu Dhabi skyline. Alpha Dhabi has grown into a conglomerate with interests in construction, health care, hospitality and industry. Victor Besa / The National

Alpha Dhabi more than doubles net profit in 2022


Deena Kamel
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Alpha Dhabi Holding, a unit of Abu Dhabi's International Holding Company, more than doubled its annual net profit in 2022 as revenue surged during the 12-month period.

Net profit rose to Dh10.6 billion ($2.9 billion) in 2022, from Dh5.2 billion in 2021, the company said on Friday in a bourse filing to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares are traded.

Revenue increased to Dh39.6 billion last year, up 112 per cent from Dh18.7 billion in 2021, according to the statement.

“Management confirms its commitment to support and enhance the core activities of the group to attain continuous growth,” Alpha Dhabi said in its preliminary results statement.

Alpha Dhabi, which was previously known as Trojan Holding, has grown into a regional conglomerate with interests in construction, health care, hospitality and industry after completing a series of acquisitions in 2021 and 2022.

Last month, Alpha Dhabi and the emirate's sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company formed a joint venture to invest in private credit opportunities amid a tightening monetary environment globally.

Alpha Dhabi, which was established in 2013, was listed on the ADX in June 2021. Since then, it has been on an expansion spree, tapping into a number of industries, including Elon Musk's SpaceX.

Its long-term investment and global expansion strategy is aimed at diversifying its portfolio to deliver strong investor returns, and the company has undertaken a number of acquisitions to realise its goals.

In December 2022, Alpha Dhabi acquired a stake in European luxury lifestyle group Nammos, boosting its portfolio in the hospitality and food and beverage industry.

Among its major moves are increasing its stake in Aldar Properties in June 2022 to become the parent company of the Abu Dhabi-based developer, as well as its acquisition of a 25 per cent stake in oil and gas engineering company Gordon Technologies for Dh602 million in November 2022.

Alpha Dhabi's operating profit last year increased to Dh6.1 billion, from Dh4.2 billion a year ago.

The company's total assets jumped to Dh131 billion as of December 31, from Dh47 billion at the end of 2021, which is more than double its total liabilities of Dh62 billion, the bourse filing said.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Updated: February 10, 2023, 8:55 AM