Amanat sees UAE, Gulf healthcare, education as GCC growth engines as it lines up Dh1.5b investment

Dubai: For Amanat Holdings CEO John Ireland, the case for healthcare and education is becoming less about surviving economic cycles and more about capturing structural growth.

The Dubai-listed investment company, which has built its portfolio around healthcare and education businesses, is entering the next phase of its expansion with a clear view that both sectors can continue growing even amid geopolitical uncertainty and higher living costs.

“We see both in healthcare and education that the medium- and long-term fundamentals are strong,” Ireland told Gulf News.

That confidence is backed by Amanat’s H1-2026 financial earnings, which Ireland assures were not impacted by the ongoing regional geopolitics. Revenue rose 24 per cent year on year to Dh 582.5 million in the first half of 2026, while EBITDA increased 30 per cent to Dh 226.4 million and profit jumped 46 per cent to Dh 153.3 million. Its EBITDA margin also expanded to 39 per cent from 37 per cent.

The company says the performance was driven by growing patient volumes, higher student enrolments and continued investment in capacity across its healthcare and education businesses.

Amanat’s confidence is now being translated into capital deployment. Its three-year growth strategy calls for approximately Dh1.5 billion of investment across organic expansion, greenfield developments and selective acquisitions, with a target return on equity of at least 10 per cent.

Ireland said Amanat has not been impacted by the regional conflict in its first-half performance.

Revenue in both healthcare and education grew by more than 20 per cent, he said, with healthcare growing slightly faster as hospitals added capacity and moved further through their ramp-up phases.

“We're in resilient sectors as well. So, education and healthcare are known globally for being resilient, and I think that’s what we've seen coming through in the results,” he said.

Ireland pointed to population growth, ageing demographics, rising life expectancy, higher household incomes and government efforts to expand access to quality healthcare and education as long-term demand drivers.

For Amanat, that makes the two sectors more than defensive investments. They are markets where demand can continue to expand as the GCC's population and economies grow.

The strongest part of Amanat’s healthcare thesis is not necessarily the traditional hospital market. Cambridge Health Group, Amanat's healthcare platform, focuses heavily on post-acute care — the stage after acute hospital treatment — as well as rehabilitation and long-term care.

Ireland said the company sees a significant supply gap in this segment.

“In the segment of the market we operate in, we believe that there’s undersupply,” he said. That creates an opportunity for Amanat to expand not simply by adding hospital beds, but by building a broader healthcare ecosystem around patients who need rehabilitation, long-term care, diagnostics and other services.

The strategy identifies Cambridge Health Group’s expansion in post-acute care and rehabilitation as central to Amanat's next phase of growth.

Much of that healthcare growth is already taking shape in Saudi Arabia.

Amanat has expanded Cambridge Hospital Jeddah from 130 beds to 200 beds after refurbishing and modernising the existing facility. Ireland said the company is now adding another 70 beds, taking capacity to 270 beds, with completion expected in the first quarter of 2028.

In Al Khobar, Amanat opened a 150-bed hospital in November 2024 after converting an existing site previously zoned for a hotel. “We took an existing site, which had actually been zoned for a hotel, and we converted that, and we opened out 150 beds in November 2024,” he explained.

The company has also announced a new 155-bed integrated post-acute healthcare facility in Riyadh.

The H1 results show how quickly the healthcare platform is scaling: Cambridge’s revenue increased 28 per cent to Dh235.3 million, while EBITDA rose 58 per cent to Dh62.4 million. Licensed healthcare beds increased 18 per cent to 666, with another 49 beds licensed in Khobar after the reporting period.

Amanat is targeting more than 1,000 operational beds for Cambridge over the medium term, alongside an expanding service offering covering diagnostics, outpatient services, surgery, home healthcare, wellness and longevity.

Ireland's strategy goes beyond simply adding beds. The planned Riyadh facility will bring long-term care, rehabilitation, outpatient physiotherapy, minor surgery and diagnostics together in one centre. Similar capabilities are being added in Jeddah.

For patients, he said, the model reduces the need to move between facilities. For Amanat, it creates additional revenue streams from existing real estate and infrastructure.

“We think it provides a better patient experience because you’re able to receive all of the services under one roof,” Ireland said.

That integrated model is important to Amanat's investment thesis because it allows the company to increase the number of services it offers without necessarily requiring a completely new physical footprint for each service.

Healthcare is only half of the growth story.

On education, Ireland sees the UAE's position as a global hub for students as a major structural advantage.

Amanat’s education portfolio includes Middlesex University Dubai, NEMA and specialist education and care businesses through Almasar Education. The group's education business generated Dh347.2 million in revenue during H1 2026, up 22 per cent year on year, while EBITDA increased 33 per cent to Dh179.9 million. Student and beneficiary numbers reached approximately 28,900, up 21 per cent, with Middlesex University Dubai enrolments reaching about 7,200.

Ireland said the UAE already has one of the strongest private education markets globally, but he believes enrolment growth can continue as the country strengthens its position as an international student destination.

“We see that continuing to grow, and in special needs, there continues to be an undersupply of special needs centres across the region,” he said.

The CEO's argument for Dubai's education market is also rooted in what happens after graduation. Ireland said students and parents repeatedly cite safety, convenience, quality of life and Dubai's connectivity when explaining the UAE's appeal.

But increasingly, employment prospects are part of the equation.

He said 79 per cent of Middlesex University Dubai students have a job within six months of graduation, which he described as one of the highest rates in the market.

The combination of the cost of the degree, quality of education, campus experience, safety and potential pathway into employment makes the UAE a compelling proposition, he said.

Middlesex has also expanded significantly under Amanat. Ireland said it had about 2,700 students when Amanat first invested in 2018; it now has more than 7,000.

Amanat is not restricting that growth to the UAE. Ireland said the GCC — with the UAE as its home market — remains the company's primary focus, but the group is prepared to consider international opportunities where they meet its financial and strategic requirements.

The company is particularly interested in businesses that can be scaled, add a service that Amanat does not currently offer and create synergies with its regional operations.

Potential areas include mental health, intermediary care and complex dementia care, he said. But Ireland stressed that international expansion would remain selective.

Any acquisition must meet Amanat's financial return thresholds, be scalable and add value to the broader group.

The company has earmarked about Dh900 million of its planned Dh1.5 billion deployment for mergers and acquisitions, while Dh500 million to Dh600 million is intended for greenfield projects, capacity expansion and new service lines. More than Dh500 million had already been deployed or committed by the time of the H1 results.

Artificial intelligence is another area where Ireland sees an opportunity rather than a threat to the sectors. In healthcare, he said AI can automate workflows and patient records, while predictive technologies can help identify when patients may need intervention.

In specialist education, Amanat's existing model already relies heavily on technology to monitor student outcomes and tailor care.

Ireland's view is that technology should ultimately make services more efficient rather than simply more expensive.

“It should make the provision of the service more efficient,” he said.

For a business pursuing scale, that efficiency matters. Ireland said standardised technology and training can help Amanat roll out its specialist education model across multiple centres more quickly.

“The key goal at the moment is to make sure that we continue to grow the core business,” he said, while ensuring the remaining deployment is directed towards synergistic businesses that can deliver the company's 10 per cent ROE target.

Amanat is also attempting to balance expansion with income for shareholders.

The company announced a three-year dividend policy targeting a minimum annual cash distribution of 7 fils per share, equivalent to 7 per cent of issued share capital, subject to financial performance, cash flow and approvals.

It has already declared an interim cash dividend of Dh75 million, equivalent to 3 fils per share, for H1 2026.

For Ireland, the proposition to shareholders is straightforward: grow the underlying businesses, deploy capital into further growth and provide a consistent dividend. “So, the metrics will continue to go up. We will deploy the cash, which will lead to further growth, and you will be able to get a consistent dividend,” he said.

Despite its ambitions, Amanat does not currently plan to diversify beyond healthcare and education. Ireland said the company believes there is enough opportunity within the two sectors it knows best.

“We honestly believe that within our two sectors, there's enough to do,” he said. That focus may ultimately be the most important part of Amanat's growth pitch.