Mubadala Development Co., the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund merging with International Petroleum Investment Co., said 2016 profit almost tripled following successful investments in “strategic sectors.”

Net income rose to 3.32 billion dirhams ($900 million) last year from 1.16 billion dirhams in 2015, Mubadala said in a statement on Thursday. Sales climbed to 31.5 billion dirhams from 29.7 billion dirhams.

Mubadala last year agreed to acquire a 20 percent stake in Bahrain-based Investcorp Bank. It also sold its 80 percent interest in Swiss aircraft-maintenance service provider SR Technics. The company, charged with making investments that will help diversify Abu Dhabi’s economy away from oil, also boosted revenue from its semiconductor, aerospace and health-care businesses.

“Our strong financial performance in 2016 reflected our diversified portfolio, with results from opportunistic investments in strategic sectors and prudent monetization of mature assets,” Chief Executive Officer Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak said. Mubarak will remain CEO once Mubadala completes its combination with IPIC in May to form Mubadala Investment Co.

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, holds about 6 percent of the world’s oil reserves. The energy-rich emirate is merging the two companies, which have combined assets of $125 billion, to cut costs as crude continues to trade at half its level of mid-2014.

Source:
courtesy of BLOOMBERG

by Mahmoud Habboush

If you have any stories or news that you would like to share with the global online community, please feel free to share it with us by contacting us directly at [email protected]