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Drake & Scull’s (DSI) offices in Dubai Production City. (DSI), on Saturday reported a net profit of Dh129 million for the nine months ended 30 September 2020 compared to a net loss of Dh1.2 billion for the same period in 2019. Image Credit: Atiq Ur Rehman/Gulf News

Dubai: Drake & Scull International (DSI), on Saturday reported a net profit of Dh129 million for the nine months ended  September 30, 2020 compared to a net loss of Dh1.2 billion for the same period in 2019.

For the 3 months ended September 30, 2020 the company reported a net loss of Dh70 million, mainly resulting from legal and bond provisions compared to net loss of Dh372 million for the same period in 2019.

DSI recorded revenues of Dh118 million and the order backlog remained stable at Dh570 million, which includes Dh157 million from joint-ventures, driven by on-going operations in the UAE, Algeria, Kuwait, Iraq and Germany.

“As per the Shareholders’ approval the organisational restructuring is progressing well especially after the sale of some of the loss-making entities, the continued focus on the MEP business and the successes of our subsidiary Passavant GmbH. We are making a continuous effort to acquire more projects, whether in UAE or overseas, in addition to the on-going operations in Tunisia, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria and Germany,” said Munir Mansour, CEO of DSI

While the accumulated losses have been reduced from Dh5 billion as of 31 December 2019 to Dh4.87 billion as of September 30, 2020, total negative equity has improved from Dh3.98 billion of December 31, 2019 to Dh3.85 billion as of September 30, 2020.

Restructuring

The company said the financial restructuring with the support of the Board of Directors and the advisors have progressed considerably since the involvement of the Ministry of Finance’s Financial Reorganization Committee (FRC).

“We have reached advanced stages in the negotiations with the key banks ahead of finalizing the framework and details of the restructuring plan. In September a formal process to allow all creditors to register their claims with the FRC appointed expert through press advertisements and direct contact with all known creditors. This was an important step forward signifying the progress of the broader plan to reorganise the Company,” said Mansour.

DSI made an application for its financial reorganisation process to be conducted under the supervision of the FRC. That application was accepted by the FRC in May 2020; and in June 2020 the FRC approved the appointment of the expert in accordance with the FRC Regulations. This acceptance marked a significant development towards achieving a successful financial reorganisation of DSI.