Dubai Investments second quarter net profit jumps 17% on assets growth

Net profit for the three months to the end of June climbed to Dh151 million

Khalid Bin Kalban, chief executive of Dubai Investments says the company is progressing well on its strategy to build a diversified investment portfolio. Randi Sokoloff / The National

Dubai Investments, a diversified company in which sovereign wealth fund Investment Corporation of Dubai holds a stake, reported a 17 per cent rise in second-quarter net profit on higher asset growth.

Net profit for the three months to the end of June 30, climbed to Dh151 million, Dubai Investments said on Thursday in a filing to the Dubai Financial Market, where its shares trade.

The company’s net income for the first half of this year dropped to Dh353m, from Dh491m recorded in the year earlier period. Each year included gains from mergers and acquisitions, Dubai Investments said. If these were stripped out, first-half profit increased by Dh131m year-on-year, it added.

Earlier this year, Dubai Investments reported a gain of Dh333m for 2018, which it attributed to the acquisition of a stake in Emirates District Cooling (Emicool). In the latest quarter, the company increased its shareholding in Globalpharma, to take full ownership of the pharmaceuticals company in February from its previous 34 per cent minority stake.

“Dubai Investments has demonstrated its ability to generate strong performance consistently, despite the challenging economic environment, Khalid Bin Kalban, chief executive of Dubai Investments, said, adding that the diversified nature of the company’s businesses is helping it to face economic headwinds.

“We are progressing well in our real estate development projects as well as manufacturing and investments sectors. These are expected to contribute to Dubai Investments' continued growth in profitability,” he said.

The company’s total assets grew by to Dh1.09 billion at the end of the first half of this year to reach Dh20.65bn. Its annualised return on equity for the period stood at 5.9 per cent.