Abu Dhabi: Tabreed, the Abu Dhabi-based district cooling utility company said that it’s net profit increased by 20 per cent to Dh325.7 million in 2014.
The company’s strong performance was bolstered by major milestones reached in its home market of the UAE and also across the GCC region, the company said in a statement. It successfully completed the refinancing of Dh2.6 billion debt facilities in addition to connecting over 118,000 tonnes of cooling (RT) to customers.
Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi, Tabreed’s Chairman said last year represented the strongest year since the company’s inception in 1998.
“Our core chilled water business continues to perform well and exceed growth forecasts, with total connected capacity across the group now approaching 1 million tons of cooling delivered to many of the region’s most critical landmarks and infrastructure projects.”
“We continue to see a rise in demand for district cooling across the GCC, especially in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, where we connected over 31,000 RT and 16,000 RT, respectively, and solidified our position as the only district cooling company that operates across the whole region.”
The company started major projects last year. It commenced the construction of a fourth district cooling plant in Qatar with a capacity of 40,000 RT in a Dh1.05 billion transaction. A consortium comprised of Tabreed and Mubadala Infrastructure Partners acquired a 30-year concession to be the exclusive provider of district cooling to the developments on Al Maryah Island in Abu Dhabi.
Agreement
The company signed a long term concession agreement with Meraas Leisure and Entertainment to provide 45,600 tons of cooling to the new Dubai Parks and Resorts development in Jebel Ali and renewed master services agreement with the UAE Armed Forces, valued at Dh6 billion.
Jasim Husain Thabet, Tabreed’s Chief Executive Officer said GCC is a healthy market and holds great potential. “GCC governments continue to invest in national infrastructure, this will drive significant demand for Tabreed’s services,” said Thabet.
Sanyalak Manibandu, manager of research at NBAD securities told Gulf News they are happy with the results. “They have got a lot of potential. There are two important projects in Saudi and Qatar and a new project coming up in the UAE next year.”
Tabreed currently has 69 district cooling plants across the GCC and provides its services to a number of projects including all the developments on Abu Dhabi’s Al Maryah Island, Yas Island, Dubai Metro etc.
