Amanat first-quarter net profit up 2% as revenue rises

Dubai-listed healthcare and education investment company is seeking to expand assets under management

The Cambridge Medical and Rehabilitation Centre in Saudi Arabia boosted Amanat's financial performance. Photo: CMRC

Education and healthcare investment company Amanat Holdings posted a 2 per cent rise in first-quarter net profit as revenue rose on strong growth in its healthcare business.

Net profit attributable to the shareholders of Dubai-listed company rose to Dh32 million ($8.7m) in the first three months of the year, the company said in a statement to the Dubai Financial Market on Thursday.

Revenue during the period rose by 77 per cent to Dh130m.

However, the company clarified that on an adjusted basis, excluding the previous year's result from divested entities, the rise in annual net profit was 39 per cent for the reporting period.

Adjusted total income grew 40 per cent to Dh46.9m, it said.

Amanat divested its minority stakes in education platform Taaleem Holdings and Saudi healthcare provider International Medical Centre last year.

“Three months into the new year, we are progressing as planned and are focused on delivering solid growth through the rest of 2022,” said Mohamad Hamade, chief executive of Amanat.

“We have a strong pipeline of healthcare and education opportunities, and we are working on optimising our capital structure to deploy further capital and grow our assets under management.”

Amanat’s healthcare platform reported income of Dh14m in the first quarter, a fivefold annual increase.

Performance was primarily driven by a full quarter contribution of Cambridge Medical and Rehabilitation Centre (CMRC), which only contributed to March’s result in the first quarter of 2021, the company said.

Amanat acquired CMRC for $232m in one of the region's biggest healthcare deals last year.

The results were also supported by a narrowing of losses at the Royal Hospital for Women and Children in Bahrain, with revenue doubling from the first quarter of last year, as well as a positive contribution from Sukoon driven by a “successful turnaround”, the company said.

Amanat's education platform recorded an income of Dh32.6m in the first three months of 2022, up 3 per cent a year, driven by enrolment growth at Middlesex University Dubai, which led to a 13 per cent increase in revenue.

At Abu Dhabi University Holding Company, income declined from the first quarter of last year as credit hours returned to normal after physical classes resumed amid a recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, Amanat said.

Total assets stood at Dh3.5 billion at the end of March, largely unchanged from the end of December.

“Our solid portfolio and future investments will collectively drive our ability to continue to deliver sustainable value for shareholders as we create scalable investment platforms for future monetisation,” Mr Hamade said.