UAE-based budget carrier Air Arabia has reported that its second-quarter net profit more than doubled, beating analyst forecasts, as passenger numbers increased and the airline manages costs.
The airline said it has a second quarter net profit of 173mn dirhams ($47.1mn) for the quarter ended June 30, up from 76mn dirhams in the corresponding period in 2013.
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast profit of 123.1mn dirhams for the period.
Revenue for the quarter rose 15% to 915mn dirhams, it said in a statement.
The airline served over 1.6mn passengers in the quarter, an increase of 8% year-on-year.
Sharjah-based Air Arabia is the only publicly listed carrier operating out of the UAE, home to Dubai government-owned Emirates and Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways.
Drake & Scull
Dubai contractor Drake & Scull reported a 41% drop in second-quarter net profit yesterday, missing analyst forecasts, as delays on major projects in Saudi Arabia hit earnings.
Drake made a profit of 25.88mn dirhams ($7.05mn) in the three months to June 30. This compares with a profit of 43.96mn dirhams in the corresponding period of 2013.
Analysts polled by Reuters on average forecast Drake would make a quarterly profit of 48.8mn dirhams.
Revenues in the second quarter reached 1.1bn dirhams compared to 1.34bn dirhams in Q2 2013, the statement said.
Revenue growth was slightly hindered and profitability dropped year-on-year due to the “significant delays” on the company’s major projects in Saudi Arabia, Drake’s chief financial officer Mukhtar Safi said in the statement.
Al Baraka Bank
Al Baraka Banking Group, a Bahrain-based Islamic lender with a presence in more than a dozen countries, posted a 3.8% increase in second-quarter net income, the bank said in a statement yesterday.
The bank, which has operations in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, made a net attributable profit of $43.8mn for the three months to June 30, compared with $42.2mn in the year-ago period of 2013.
Total assets stood at $22.1bn at the end of June, up from $19.5bn a year earlier.
Adama
Israel’s Adama Agricultural Solutions, the world’s largest provider of generic crop protection chemicals, reported a 23.5% rise in quarterly profit, boosted by sales gains in North and South America and in Asia.
Second-quarter net profit rose to $59.4mn from $48.1mn, the Israeli company formerly known as MA Industries said yesterday. The company’s products include fungicides, herbicides, insecticides and growth regulators.
Turnover grew 9% to $875.9mn due to higher sales in Latin America, North America, Asia Pacific and Africa. Sales edged lower in Europe, its largest market, due to unseasonably cold and wet weather.
China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) owns 60% of Adama, while Israel’s Discount Investment Corp owns the rest.
Adama said it continues to evaluate business opportunities in China, with the potential to support the creation of a significant commercial, operational and research and development infrastructure in the country.
Agility
Kuwait’s Agility, the largest Gulf Arab logistics company, has reported a 12.2% rise in second-quarter net profit.
Agility made a net profit of 12.9mn dinars ($45.54mn) in the three months to June 30, up from 11.5mn dinars in the same period a year ago, according to a bourse statement.
The firm said it remains suspended from bidding for new contracts with the US government pending the resolution of court cases the US has filed against Agility.
The US Department of Justice is seeking “substantial damages” from Agility and the two parties are in settlement discussions, the statement said.
Agility was a major supplier to the US Army in the Middle East.
In July 2011, a US appeals court ruled against an attempt by the logistics firm to avert prosecution over charges it defrauded the US Army in multibillion-dollar contracts.
