International Holding Company, the UAE's most valuable listed company, tripled its net profit in the third quarter of 2022, driven by a robust performance across all its operational assets.
Net profit attributable to the owners of the company for the three month period to end of September reached more than Dh6.4 billion ($1.7bn), compared with Dh2.1bn in the same period of last year, IHC said in a statement on Tuesday to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares are traded.
Revenue for the third quarter grew by about 48 per cent to Dh12.4bn.
IHC was founded in 1998 as part of an initiative to diversify and develop non-oil business sectors in the UAE. The company had a market value of about Dh736 billion at the close of trading on Tuesday.
“This is an outstanding result of which we can all be proud. It reflects the strength that IHC has developed in recent years,” Syed Shueb, IHC’s chief executive, said.
Continued momentum in strategic direct and indirect acquisitions, locally and internationally, were the main drivers behind the growth rate above the previous year's quarter, the company said.
The initiatives raised the company's total assets to Dh198.8bn in the July-September period from Dh64.4bn in third quarter of last year.
The key contributors to the total current assets include Alpha Dhabi Holding, Q Holding, International Securities, Al Seer Marine and Multiply Group, IHC said.
Net profit attributable to the owners of the company in the first nine months of the year rose 129 per cent on the year to more than Dh10.8bn, as revenue grew by more than 87 per cent to Dh34.3bn.
The company’s total cash and bank balances stood at Dh31.8bn in the September quarter against nearly Dh20.3bn last year.
The company’s acquisition total value in the third quarter crossed Dh13.5bn, which included the Dh10bn Taqa deal, Dh1.8bn in Kalyon Enerji, Dh1.5bn in Burjeel Holding and Dh250 million in Emircom, in which IHC acquired a majority stake.
IHC aims to publicly list more of its companies on the ADX growth markets.
The company has grown to become one of the most valuable listed holding companies in the Middle East and also expanded into countries like India and Turkey.
IHC's acquisitions in the three-month period were focused on supporting its future growth plans in strengthening its operations across targeted sectors such as technology, which included a 55 per cent shareholding in Cyber Gate Defence and completing a 15 per cent cornerstone investment in Bayanat after the quarter's end, it said.
It said that the company aims to deepen its investment in this space by building a giant technology holding arm by 2024.
Last month, IHC also made a foray into the South American market with a Dh734m investment in a Colombian company. It launched $2.1bn bid — through its subsidiary IHC Capital — to buy a stake in Colombia's Grupo Nutresa.
Going forward, IHC will continue to seek “sizeable acquisitions in the fourth quarter” to boost its bottom line, it said.
“IHC plans to remain focused on global market expansion, we have set an ambitious long-term goal to grow the number of our global business acquisitions by 70 per cent in the next 12 months,” Mr Shueb said.
“Our strong financial performance positions us well to enter new territories. IHC’s expansion and acquisition appetite will remain robust ahead, as we continue to focus on our capabilities which is informing our growth path, including how we approach acquisitions, as this is one of our competitive advantages.”
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What is Folia?
Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal's new plant-based menu will launch at Four Seasons hotels in Dubai this November. A desire to cater to people looking for clean, healthy meals beyond green salad is what inspired Prince Khaled and American celebrity chef Matthew Kenney to create Folia. The word means "from the leaves" in Latin, and the exclusive menu offers fine plant-based cuisine across Four Seasons properties in Los Angeles, Bahrain and, soon, Dubai.
Kenney specialises in vegan cuisine and is the founder of Plant Food Wine and 20 other restaurants worldwide. "I’ve always appreciated Matthew’s work," says the Saudi royal. "He has a singular culinary talent and his approach to plant-based dining is prescient and unrivalled. I was a fan of his long before we established our professional relationship."
Folia first launched at The Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills in July 2018. It is available at the poolside Cabana Restaurant and for in-room dining across the property, as well as in its private event space. The food is vibrant and colourful, full of fresh dishes such as the hearts of palm ceviche with California fruit, vegetables and edible flowers; green hearb tacos filled with roasted squash and king oyster barbacoa; and a savoury coconut cream pie with macadamia crust.
In March 2019, the Folia menu reached Gulf shores, as it was introduced at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, where it is served at the Bay View Lounge. Next, on Tuesday, November 1 – also known as World Vegan Day – it will come to the UAE, to the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach and the Four Seasons DIFC, both properties Prince Khaled has spent "considerable time at and love".
There are also plans to take Folia to several more locations throughout the Middle East and Europe.
While health-conscious diners will be attracted to the concept, Prince Khaled is careful to stress Folia is "not meant for a specific subset of customers. It is meant for everyone who wants a culinary experience without the negative impact that eating out so often comes with."
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Company Profile
Founder: Omar Onsi
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Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
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Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
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Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
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Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
