Waha posts 22.6% jump in Q1 profit

abu dhabi — Waha Capital has reported a 22.6 per cent rise in first quarter net profit to Dh107 million, driven by a strong performance by the company’s asset management division and the disposal of 3.77 million shares in AerCap.

Total income for the quarter ending March 31, 2018 increased 18.9 per cent year on year to Dh316.2 million. This was partly due to a sharp rise in income produced by Waha Capital’s equities and fixed income funds and an increase in assets under management.

The company also reported a Dh25 million gain from the sale of 3.77 million shares in New Yorklisted AerCap Holdings. Waha Capital retains a 15.68 per cent stake in the aircraft leasing firm. Meanwhile, Waha Capital’s total expenses decreased 5.3 per cent to Dh160 million in the quarter.

Salem Rashid Al Noaimi, Chairman of Waha Capital, said the first quarter results show the strength of “our business, with our asset management division providing robust growth”, to compliment a steady performance by our principal investments portfolio.

“Waha Capital’s transactions in the last year have further diversified our assets, and we are actively pursuing further attractive investment opportunities. Meanwhile, we continue to steadily increase fee income by attracting third-party investors to our actively managed funds, which have consistently outperformed their benchmarks.”

Michael Raynes, CEO, Waha Capital, said Waha Capital’s business and income streams are very well balanced across strategic direct investments, and a liquid capital markets portfolio, both managed by expert investment teams. “We continually seek to create value and optimise our asset mix, and in the last quarter we chose to sell a portion of our stake in AerCap, and deploy additional capital in our equities and fixed income funds.” —