Abu Dhabi Industrial Group Senaat Posts 5% Profit Rise In 2014

Abu Dhabi’s General Holding Corp (Senaat), a major state-owned investor in the emirate’s industrial sector, posted a five per cent rise in net profit for 2014, the company said in a statement on Saturday.

The company said net profit reached Dhs923 million ($251.3 million) last year, while earnings before interest, tax and depreciation (EBIDTA) rose nine per cent to Dhs2.1 billion in 2014, compared with Dhs1.9 billion in 2013.

Senaat’s revenue increased by 16 per cent to Dhs13.4 billion in 2014 from Dhs11.6 billion a year earlier, as the company’s total assets reached Dhs26.8 billion.

Senaat plans to invest Dhs5 billion ($1.4 billion) in industry over the next two years as Abu Dhabi diversifies its economy away from oil. In the past five years, it invested Dhs16 billion in Abu Dhabi.

The company, which has shelved plans to go public but instead is considering options to sell shares in one of its subsidiaries, has said will focus on basic downstream industries whose products can be used locally, such as pipe manufacturing.

“We have identified a number of attractive options into which we intend to invest, as we continue to seek opportunities to diversify our portfolio and deploy capital to fuel the growth of Abu Dhabi’s industrial asset base,” Hussain Jasim al-Nowais, chairman of Senaat said in the statement on Saturday.