Stock - Amanat
Amanat has in the recent past been talking about creating a standalone healthcare unit and building it up towards a stock market float of its own. Image Credit: Supplied

Dubai: The education and healthcare focused investment firm Amanat scored record revenue and profitability for the period up to end September, with Dh495 million (up 44 per cent) and Dh88.2 million (a gain of 73 per cent). Returns from its education sector exposures drove much of the performance, ‘up more than 2x’.

Amanat owns the Middlesex University Dubai, where student enrolments have hit a new high. The former has also sighted inflows from Human Development Company, a recent acquisition, as boosting its latest numbers.

All this stems from an investment strategy that the company rolled out in late 2020, according to Hamad Alshamsi, Chairman. "We have successfully exited our minority investments and acquired high quality assets with strong growth potential in long-term care and special education and care needs, enabling the creation of two market leading platforms with robust fundamentals and a high monetization potential,” said Alshamsi.

“This is reflected in our strong financial performance in the first nine months of 2023, ensuring we’re on track to deliver a record set of results for full-year 2023.”

Cash in hand

As of end September, the company had Dh560 million in cash and backed by 'low leverage enabling significant financial flexibility to deploy on growth opportunities'.

We have a clear strategy for growth and value creation. We have an active deployment pipeline focused on K-12 opportunities in the UAE and KSA and continue to explore options to realize significant shareholder value across the portfolio, including through potential monetization events

- Hamad Alshamsi of Amanat

Healthcare ambitions

In the recent past, Amanat has spoken about launching a standalone healthcare focussed entity, seeing opportunities to grow in the UAE and markets like Saudi Arabia. That strategy would sort of fit in well with the sizeable investments the sector has been attracting in the last year and more.

As of now, its healthcare assets include the Cambridge Medical and Rehabilitation Center (CMRC) in the UAE and Saudi Arabia; Sukoon in Jeddah; and Al-Malaki Specialist Hospital, a specialist hospital located in Bahrain; and the real estate assets of Cambridge Medical and Rehabilitation Center in Abu Dhabi.