We are diversifying into new sectors and geographies

12% cash dividend approved

Khalid bin Kalban, MD and CEO of Dubai Investments

dubai — Dubai Investments, a diversified investments conglomerate, announced on Thursday a 5.5 per cent rise in net profit to Dh 297.5 million for the first quarter of 2016.

The company, which recently announced recently that it expects to add around Dh20 billion in assets over the next 3-5 years, said in a statement that its total income for the period was Dh 715 million as compared to Dh 543 million for first quarter 2015.

Total assets rose to Dh15.56 billion, compared to Dh15.25 billion as at December 31, 2015; while the net worth grew to Dh 10.97 billion as at March 31, 2016, compared to Dh10.71 billion as at December 31, 2015.

The annualised return on equity achieved for the period was 10.84 per cent, the company, which is listed on the Dubai Financial Market, said.

Khalid bin Kalban, managing director and chief executive officer of Dubai Investments, said as part of the company’s investment process a continuous assessment of its investment portfolio is being done to identify divestment opportunities and venture into areas where prospects for further growth are seen.

“While the real estate and investment sectors remain our core focus, we are also diversifying into new sectors and geographies which would yield us benefits in the coming years.”

“The outlook for the rest of 2016 and beyond is positive with various developments in the pipeline.

We are diversifying into new sectors and geographies which would yield us benefits in the coming years Khalid bin Kalban, Managing director and CEO of Dubai Investments

We are finalising acquisition of additional 20 per cent stake in Properties Investments which would increase Dubai Investments stake to 70 per cent,” said Kalban.

Dubai Investments is working on setting up Emiroll, an aluminum rolling plant in the Kizad wherein we would have a 30 per cent share. Partners in this project would be Dubal Holding and MARS, a Singapore-based industrial group.

Dubai Investments currently owns 37 subsidiaries and joint ventures across a diverse range of sectors and continues to seek new investment opportunities, locally and internationally, as part of its strategic roadmap.

The company, in which sovereign fund Investment Corp of Dubai owns an 11.5 per cent stake, said in a recent statement that it would be seeking new growth opportunities in sectors including healthcare and education.

At its recent annual general meeting, shareholders also approved a 12 per cent cash dividend after the company made a net profit of Dh1.1 billion for 2015 with total assets of Dh15.3 billion as of December 31 2015, an increase of Dh800 million over 2014.