Ducab, the UAE-based cables producer, has seen its profits surge on the back of increased sales into the Abu Dhabi construction and hydrocarbon sectors.
The company increased its sales by 39 per cent to Dh4.9 billion in 2011. Operating profits from the underlying business doubled, said Ducab, without revealing numbers.
Revenue from the Abu Dhabi construction sector rose by half, with the emirate last year accounting for 60 per cent of sales into the construction sector, according to Andrew Shaw, Ducab’s managing director.
"Last year was the first year that our sales invoiced to AD exceeded our sales invoiced to Dubai," said Mr Shaw.
Sales to the oil, gas and petrochemicals sector grew by 250 per cent, as Ducab supplied cabling to key Abu Dhabi projects such as the gas processing facilities in Habshan, the refinery in Ruwais, and the Borouge petrochemical complex in the same location.
High oil prices spurred investment in the hydrocarbon sector, and the company was able to meet rising demand with its speciality cable factory that had been built three years earlier in an effort to diversify away supplying the construction and utilities sector.
Instrumentation and control cables supplied to the hydrocarbon sector now accounts for about 15 per cent of sales and a higher proportion of profit.
"This year the growth has been driven both by growth of demand and the fact we have this special cables unit in full operation,"said Mr Shaw.
florian.neuhof@thenational.ae
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Recipe
Garlicky shrimp in olive oil
Gambas Al Ajillo
Preparation time: 5 to 10 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients
180ml extra virgin olive oil; 4 to 5 large cloves of garlic, minced or pureed (or 3 to 4 garlic scapes, roughly chopped); 1 or 2 small hot red chillies, dried (or ¼ teaspoon dried red chilli flakes); 400g raw prawns, deveined, heads removed and tails left intact; a generous splash of sweet chilli vinegar; sea salt flakes for seasoning; a small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Method
▶ Heat the oil in a terracotta dish or frying pan. Once the oil is sizzling hot, add the garlic and chilli, stirring continuously for about 10 seconds until golden and aromatic.
▶ Add a splash of sweet chilli vinegar and as it vigorously simmers, releasing perfumed aromas, add the prawns and cook, stirring a few times.
▶ Once the prawns turn pink, after 1 or 2 minutes of cooking, remove from the heat and season with sea salt flakes.
▶ Once the prawns are cool enough to eat, scatter with parsley and serve with small forks or toothpicks as the perfect sharing starter. Finish off with crusty bread to soak up all that flavour-infused olive oil.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
