Dubai firm Shuaa's Q1-2021 is a 10-year high, led by deals such as for music streamer Anghami

Dubai: The Dubai-based investment firm Shuaa Capital recorded a net profit of Dh28.8 million for the first quarter of 2021, in a smart recovery from the Dh252.03 million loss it had same time last year. The net profit tally is a 10-year high.

Shuaa has been flying high in recent months, heading a high-profile SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) deal for the music streaming platform Anghami. This will see Anghami list on Nasdaq New York, most likely next month.

To the rescue

There were others too, such as the rescue of Dubai-based Stanford Marine Group. Going forward, Shuaa plans to launch a tech fund as it widens its interests in the tech and digital space. "Our focus now shifts onto growth and transformation with significant hiring across the platform, new product launches and differentiated value propositions for our clients," said Jassim Alseddiqi, Group CEO of Shuaa.

"With Q1 profits having hit a 10-year high, the landmark transactions and the momentum we are currently seeing across the firm going into Q2 have both been very encouraging and reinforce our commitment to the continued execution of our strategic agenda.”

Shuaa also came up with "record profits" for its asset management business. This was despite a slight decrease in assets to $13.9 billion compared with the "record levels" of $14.1 billion at the end of 2020, "due to the exit of a low margin mandate". Conversely, the company has achieved "continued progress on building out the new funds recently launched".