Al Ansari Financial Services, the UAE money exchange and transfer company, reported a 22 per cent annual drop in its third-quarter net profit as costs rose amid an expansion push.
Net profit attributable to the shareholders of the company for the three months to the end of September declined to Dh124.5 million ($34 million), the company said on Thursday in a filing to the Dubai Financial Market, where its shares are traded.
The net gain on currency exchange during the period fell 20 per cent, year on year, to Dh131.2 million, while finance costs more than doubled to Dh1.6 million.
Depreciation and amortisation charges for the quarter rose 16 per cent annually to Dh21.5 million.
General and administrative expenses also jumped during the period, affecting the profit of the company.
“Despite the current global economic and political uncertainties, our confidence remains steadfast, bolstered by the enduring strength of our core assets and value propositions,” Rashed Al Ansari, group chief executive of Al Ansari Financial Services said.
“These … assets position us favourably to execute our growth strategy while consistently delivering robust financial results.”
Al Ansari made its trading debut on the DFM in April after it sold 750 million shares through its initial public offering that raised $210 million from the sale of a 10 per cent stake to retail and qualified institutional investors.
The company drew $3.45 billion in bids for the offering, which was oversubscribed 22 times on average.
National Bonds Corporation – owned by the Investment Corporation of Dubai, the investment arm of the Dubai government – committed to a cornerstone investment worth Dh200 million in the IPO.
The company’s nine-month net profit attributable to shareholders fell 10.5 per cent annually to Dh387.8 million on a lower net gain on currency exchanges, higher general and administrative expenses and depreciation and amortisation charges. Finance costs also surged during the period.
Al Ansari’s number of physical branches in the nine months of 2023 increased to 248 compared to 225 during the same period last year.
The total number of transactions during the period grew 10 per cent annually to 36.6 million transactions.
Capital expenditure for the nine months increased by 3.7 per cent, year on year, to Dh32 million as the group continued to invest in scaling up its business in line with its growth strategy.
The group‘s cash flow from operations after adjusting for capex amounted to Dh407 million during the period.
The company received shareholders’ approval for a proposed interim dividend payment of Dh300 million, at 4 fils a share. The second payment of an equivalent amount will be disbursed in April 2024, it said.
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
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