14 November, 2018 – Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates:   National Central Cooling Company PJSC (DFM: Tabreed), the leading UAE-based regional district cooling utility company, today released its consolidated financial results for the first nine months of 2018. Tabreed reported a 10% increase in net profit to AED 319.3 million for the year up to 30 September, compared with the same period in 2017, mainly driven by the acquisition in March of S&T Cool, a district cooling provider on Reem Island in Abu Dhabi, as well as income in May from a partial sale of Saudi Tabreed following the investment by the IDB Infrastructure Fund II, reducing Tabreed's total shareholding in Saudi Tabreed from 25% to 20%. 

 

Tabreed’s latest financial results follow its announcement last month that it successfully issued a US$500 million (AED 1.8 billion) fixed rate senior unsecured US dollar denominated RegS sukuk with a 7 year tenor. The issue was 50% oversubscribed and saw strong institutional demand both locally and in Asia and Europe. The sukuk was competitively priced, with a profit rate of 5.5%, underpinned by Moody’s Baa3 and Fitch’s BBB credit ratings, assigned to Tabreed and to the sukuk itself. Tabreed also arranged new bank facilities of up to AED 1.5 billion which, along with the sukuk, will be used to refinance AED 2.8 billion of current corporate debt and provide a committed revolving credit facility which is available to fund the business as needed. 

 

Financial highlights – nine months ended 30 September 2018:

Operational highlights – nine months ended 30 September 2018:

Environmental highlights – nine months ended 30 September 2018:

Khaled Abdulla Al Qubaisi, Tabreed’s Chairman, commented: “We are pleased to report another strong set of both financial and operational results, with a net income increasing 10%, reflecting our solid group performance. We also saw stable growth in our connected capacity, adding over 29,000 of new customer connections in the first nine months of this year. Additionally, in Q3 we received new investment grade ratings from Moody’s and Fitch, which is a strong endorsement of Tabreed’s strong utility business model.”    

 

Jasim Husain Thabet, Tabreed’s Chief Executive Officer, added: “These solid results follow our successful raising of a 500 million dollar sukuk, which was 50% oversubscribed, receiving strong institutional demand both locally and in Asia and Europe. This, coupled with another quarter of consistently strong results, confirms Tabreed’s position as a leader in district cooling in the region.” 

 

Tabreed is a partner of choice for organizations across the GCC in providing environmentally friendly district cooling solutions that support the region’s energy sustainability. With 73 district cooling plants located throughout the region, Tabreed currently delivers over 1 million refrigeration tons to key developments in the region including iconic infrastructure projects such as Abu Dhabi’s Al Maryah Island, Yas Island, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Dubai Metro, Dubai Parks and Resorts, and the Jabal Omar Development in the Holy City of Mecca, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.