Amanat's adjusted 2022 net profit up 14% to $32m

Company will continue to look for acquisition opportunities to boost growth, its chief executive says

The Dubai Financial Market. Last year, Amanat received regulatory permission to boost the foreign ownership limit of its shares to 100 per cent. Sarah Dea / The National

Amanat Holdings, a Dubai-based education and healthcare investment company, has reported a 14 per cent jump in its 2022 adjusted net profit on the back of higher revenue.

The company’s adjusted net profit, which excludes gains from sales and trading, climbed to Dh117.4 million ($32 million), from Dh103.4 million a year ago, the company said in a statement to the Dubai Financial Market, where its shares are traded.

Revenue for the year rose by more than 24 per cent to Dh513.1 million while total assets grew by more than 2 per cent to Dh3.6 billion.

Net profit attributable to equity holders for the 12-month period to the end of December fell 59 per cent annually to Dh114.2 million as finance costs rose 65 per cent to about Dh29.9 million.

“In the last two years, we have concluded nine transactions at a combined value of Dh2.5 billion, growing our platforms and resulting in a portfolio of market-leading assets across the education and healthcare sectors in the GCC,” said chairman Hamad Alshamsi.

“As we look forward, our focus is shareholder value creation, which we intend to deliver through the expansion of our platforms and future monetisation events, underpinned by consistent dividend distributions.”

The company continued to expand its operations last year.

In December, Amanat announced the creation of the largest pan-GCC, post-acute care platform after the merger of Sukoon International Holding Company with Cambridge Medical and Rehabilitation Centre (CMRC) through a non-cash share swap.

According to the agreement, Sukoon shareholders will receive about 15 per cent of Amanat’s shares in CMRC in return for Amanat receiving additional shares in Sukoon.

Amanat will own about 85 per cent of the post-merger entity.

It also acquired a 60 per cent stake in the Human Development Company (HDC), a Saudi special education and care provider, for an initial consideration of about 220.3 million Saudi riyals ($59 million).

Amanat also received regulatory permission to boost the foreign ownership limit of its shares to 100 per cent.

“At the healthcare platform, we are on track to operate 700 beds by 2024, a 65 per cent increase in capacity, while at the education platform, we continue to grow through a combination of bolt-on-acquisitions and organic growth,” said Amanat’s chief executive Mohamad Hamade.

“At the newly acquired HDC, expansions are in progress that will add additional centres in Saudi Arabia, while concurrently exploring regional expansion opportunities.”

The company will continue to look for further acquisition opportunities to boost growth, he said.

Amanat’s board recommended dividend payout of 4 fils per share, amounting to Dh100 million in total.