Dubai:
Shareholders of National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed), the regional UAE-based district cooling utility company, approved a dividend of 6.5 fils per share for the 2016 financial year.
This represents an 8 per cent increase on the dividend paid out in 2015, driven by the company’s strong performance throughout 2016.
The dividend was approved by the shareholders at the company’s Annual General Assembly (AGA), which was chaired by Khalid Abdullah Al Qubaisi, Tabreed’s board member, and attended by Tabreed’s Board of Directors, shareholders, and the company’s senior leadership team.
“As a well-capitalised, stable utility company delivering robust results, we are fully committed to providing profitable returns to our shareholders. The 8 per cent increase in cash dividend per share for 2016 is evidence of Tabreed’s solid performance and continuous growth, which is in line with the UAE’s vision for economic diversification and sustainable development,” Commenting on the announcement, Al Qubaisi said.
Earlier this year, Tabreed released its audited financial results for 2016, which witnessed a robust 6 per cent net profit increase to reach Dh367 million. The increase was mainly due to the addition of 74,034 RT to its existing cooling capacity during the year through the completion of projects such as Dubai Parks and Resorts and the acquisition of a cooling plant from International Capital Trading (ICT) in Abu Dhabi, building on Tabreed’s established presence in the GCC.
Tabreed owns and operates 71 plants in its portfolio across the GCC, including 63 plants in the United Arab Emirates, three plants in Qatar, two in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, two in Oman, and one in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
