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Waha Capital, an investment company in Abu Dhabi, has announced positive results for the first quarter of 2021.
The company delivered an overall Q1 profit of AED 111 million ($30.2 million) as both the Public Markets and Private Investments businesses demonstrated robust performance, while the global economic outlook continued to improve due to COVID-19 vaccination efforts.
Q1 financial highlights
- Net operating income of AED 250 million (net operating loss of AED 408 million in Q1 2020)
- Net profit of AED 111 million (loss of AED 294 million in Q1 2020)
- Public Markets profit of AED 139 million (loss of AED 297 million in Q1 2020)
- Private Investments profit of AED 15 million (profit of AED 30 million in Q1 2020)
Public markets highlights
The Public Markets business has maintained its strong track record of delivering returns and outperforming its peers in the MENA region, delivering Q1 profits of AED 139 million.
Both of Waha Capital’s best-in-class funds produced consistently strong returns. The CEEMEA Credit Fund produced a total Q1 return of 4.1%, bringing total cumulative return since inception in 2012 to 252.5%. The MENA Equity Fund produced a total Q1 return of 5.5% bringing total cumulative return since inception in 2014 to 248.1%.
Waha Capital’s Islamic fund, which launched in August 2020, and invests in Shari’a compliant assets across sukuk and equity markets, produced a total Q1 return of 1.6%.
Private investments highlights
The Private Investments business, which comprises a portfolio of assets across a range of sectors including healthcare, industrial real estate, financial services and fintech, energy, infrastructure and travel, delivered Q1 profits of AED 15 million.
Private Investments has now transitioned to a new growth phase, with assets concentrated into a core portfolio of long-term investments, and a diversified strategy of strategic investments outside the region. New investments made in 2020 in US securities including our investment in LATAM online travel provider Despegar, are already contributing to overall returns.
Waha Land which constructs, owns and manages industrial real estate projects in Abu Dhabi has continued to maintain its strong occupancy rates at its Almarkaz development (95% for Stage 1 and 97% for Stage 2A) and continues to provide positive returns to Waha Capital.
H.E. Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi, Chairman of Waha Capital, said: “The COVID-19 vaccination program has continued to reaffirm confidence in global markets during the first quarter contributing to Waha Capital’s strong financial performance. The outlook for the rest of the year is encouraging, and the company has a comprehensive strategy to take advantage of opportunities in our key sectors and markets. The Board continues to take a long-term perspective to Waha Capital’s progress, ensuring that the company can deliver sustainable growth and value to shareholders.”
Ahmed Khalifa Al Mehairi, Chief Executive Officer of Waha Capital added: “Our first-quarter results demonstrate that our strategy is working and provide further confidence in our ability to deliver sustained returns for shareholders. Our growth strategy is on track, our market-leading funds continue to perform extremely well against peers, and our recent investments are already contributing to our profitability. Waha Capital has responded well to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we have the right team and the capacity to make further strategic investments in the year ahead.”
