ADPower will own 98.6 per cent of Taqa shares following the deal, but a follow-on share offer could be made to broaden the company's investor base. Courtesy Taqa
ADPower will own 98.6 per cent of Taqa shares following the deal, but a follow-on share offer could be made to broaden the company's investor base. Courtesy Taqa

Energy

Abu Dhabi's Taqa swings to third-quarter profit

Higher oil prices and strong performance in power and water division boosted performance

Sarah Townsend

November 08, 2018

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) swung to a net profit in the third quarter of 2018 as it strengthened its balance sheet on higher oil prices.

Net income attributable to shareholders for the three months to September 30 rose to Dh153 million from a loss of Dh194m in the year-earlier period. Gross revenues lifted 19 per cent to Dh4.9 billion, the company said on Thursday in a filing to Abu Dhabi Exchange, where its shares are traded.

“Taqa has achieved a very strong financial turnaround in the last year, which is the result of three years of hard work to strengthen our business to withstand the most volatile of business cycles,” said chairman Saeed Al Hajeri.

Taqa posted a record loss in 2016 and has since worked to pay down debt and recover growth. It has reduced its debt by Dh3.7bn since the beginning of the year, leading to a Dh231 million reduction in cash interest paid, it said on Thursday. Total liquidity stood at Dh13.2bn at the end of September.

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“The company is now well positioned to implement our strategy for growth, which will combine attaining optimal returns from our oil and gas business, while maximising efficiency at power and water assets and pursuing new opportunities in the utilities sector,” Mr Al Hajeri said.

The power and water business recorded a strong performance, with revenues of Dh8.7bn, while Taqa’s oil and gas business produced Dh4.8bn of revenue.

“Operating netbacks per barrel increased in Europe driven by higher oil prices, while operations in North America continued to be affected by the low gas price environment in Canada,” the company said.

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HAEMOGLOBIN DISORDERS EXPLAINED

Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.

Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.

The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.

The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.

A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.