Taqa Q1 net profit tumbles 80%
Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (Taqa), the state-owned oil explorer and power supplier, yesterday said first-quarter net profit tumbled 80% partly because of an outage at one of its facilities.
Taqa, 75% owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, reported a net profit of 106mn dirhams ($28.9mn) for the first quarter compared with 534mn dirhams in the year-ago period.
Revenues were 5.4bn dirhams in the quarter, 6% lower year-on-year.
Profits fell because of a shut-in of the Cormorant Alpha platform in the North Sea (pictured), weaker North American oil and liquids prices, and the fact that a special gain was made in the first quarter of 2012, a statement from Taqa said.
Profit in the first quarter of last year included 378mn dirhams from the disposal of Canadian assets.
The Cormorant platform is likely to remain shut during the second quarter, affecting profitability. “We are working on the repairs. It is a difficult environment to work in, so a hard job to schedule. We expect to get it done before end of Q3,” Carl Sheldon, chief executive of Taqa, said on a conference call.
Taqa’s total assets fell to 121.1bn dirhams at end-March from 122.6bn dirhams in December because of depreciation of the Canadian dollar and a decrease in accounts receivables at its Taqa Britani project from joint venture partners, the statement said.
Aluminium Bahrain
Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), owner of the world’s fourth-largest aluminium smelter, saw first-quarter profits nearly double on the back of gains from financial instruments.
Alba said its first-quarter net profit rose to 40.5mn dinars ($107.43mn) from 21.3mn dinars in the year-ago period.
Results were boosted by a 10.2mn dinar gain from derivative instruments, which had resulted in a loss of 7.7mn dinars in the year-ago quarter, Alba said in a bourse statement yesterday.
DFM
Dubai Financial Market Co yesterday posted a 12% fall in first-quarter net profit, but expects margin trading to boost market activity amid an improving outlook for the emirate’s economy.
It made a three-month net profit of 27mn dirhams ($7.4mn), compared with a profit of 30.5mn dirhams a year earlier, DFM said in an emailed statement.
The bourse operator, which makes a big chunk of its profit from trading commissions, said the value of traded stocks was up 1.7% on year during the first quarter at 20.8bn dirhams. DFM said it accredited three new brokerage firms as margin trading providers, lifting the total number of firms offering this service to six.
DFM said total revenue in the three-month period amounted to 65.7mn dirhams, down 5% from 69.1mn dirhams a year earlier. Its operating expenses were at a similar level as last year.
ADIB
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) yesterday said its net profit in the first quarter rose 11% on year as fee and commission income rose.
The group’s three-month net profit of 340.1mn dirhams ($92.7mn) was up from 307.3mn dirhams a year earlier, ADIB said in an emailed statement. It made credit provisions and impairments of 185.5mn dirhams for the quarter, a level similar to the year earlier period.
Its fee and commission income for the quarter increased 39.5% on year to 151.8mn dirhams, the bank noted.
Net revenues in the last quarter amounted to 919mn dirhams, up from 870.8mn dirhams in the year before period.
“Despite a strong first quarter for asset growth, our outlook remains moderately conservative for the full year,” ADIB said in the statement.
“We remain concerned about the impact of the slow pace of the global economic recovery on our customers and continue to keep a close watch on the recovery of the Global Banking System,” it added.
The bank’s total assets as on March 31 were 88.7bn dirhams compared with 85.7bn dirhams at the end of December 31, 2012.
Zain
Zain, Kuwait’s No 1 telecom operator, reported a 27% fall in first-quarter net profit, missing analysts’ estimates, due to a steep devaluation in the Sudanese pound and loss-making unit Zain Saudi.
The former monopoly, whose domestic rivals include Wataniya, a unit of Ooredoo and Viva, an affiliate of Saudi Telecom Co, made a net profit of 52mn Kuwaiti dinars ($182.6mn) in the three months to March 31, down from 70.9mn a year ago.
Sudan accounted for nearly a third of Zain’s customer base and a fifth of group revenue last year, but the country has been mired in economic turmoil following South Sudan’s succession in 2011.
In July, Sudan devalued its currency to 4.4 pounds to the dollar from 2.6, while the black market rate hit a record low of 7.1 in December. The slump cost Zain the equivalent of $179mn in revenue and $44mn in profit in the first quarter, the company said yesterday.
In local currency, Zain’s Sudan operations increased first-quarter revenue by 25% and net profit by 57%.
Zain, whose group revenue fell to 299mn dinars from 325.7mn a year ago, increased its stake in affiliate Zain Saudi to 37% from 25% in July as part of the latter’s capital restructuring.