Fertiglobe's first-half profit surges in 2021

Fertiglobe is owned by Adnoc and Netherlands-listed OCI. Courtesy: Adnoc

Fertiglobe, the chemicals joint venture between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and Netherlands-listed OCI, registered a more than eightfold increase in its net profit for the first six months of the year, as higher global prices for urea and ammonia boosted its performance.

Profit attributed to the owners of the company reached $198.5 million for the period ending June 30, compared with $23m for the same period last year.

Revenue surged nearly 71 per cent to reach $1.26 billion, from $737.5m earned during the same period last year.

Fertiglobe is the world’s largest seaborne exporter of urea and ammonia. The company recently raised about $795m in its initial public offering, amid strong demand from international, regional and local investors.

The company – which is also the Mena region’s largest producer of nitrogen fertilisers by production capacity – sold more than 1.145 billion shares representing 13.8 per cent of its share capital.

Its listing is the third-largest on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, with Fertiglobe's market value at $5.8bn.

The company attracted three cornerstone investors with commitments of $231m. They are the Abu Dhabi Pension Fund, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC and San Francisco-based activist investor Inclusive Capital Partners.

Fertiglobe will start trading on the ADX at 10am UAE time on October 27, subject to closing conditions. It will appear under the ticker “Fertiglobe” and the International Securities Identification Numbering (Isin) code “AEF000901015”.

The Netherlands-listed OCI will continue to have the majority stake in Fertiglobe, with Adnoc holding on to 36.2 per cent of the share capital.

Fertiglobe plans to increase its dividend to $200m, from $150m, with the payout for the second half of the current financial year due in April 2022.

The company expects to distribute a dividend of at least $400m, up from $315m in the financial year ending December 2022.

Fertiglobe will pay half of the dividend amount in October 2022, with the remainder scheduled to be paid in April 2023.