By: Ramy Sameeh
Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: The UAE’s National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed) is looking to win new awards and opportunities in the GCC region, while also focusing on the local market as well as the Saudi and Qatari markets, said CEO Jasim Hussein Thabet.
Tabreed has a strong presence in the UAE through its 61 plants, with plans to increase its operations and benefit from the growing opportunities in the emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the CEO told Mubasher in an exclusive interview late Sunday.
He noted that there are several major projects by Tabreed in the UAE, including a 20-year contract worth AED 6 billion with the UAE’s armed forces, and another with Aldar Properties to provide cooling services to all of Yas Island, from Yas Mall to Yas Marina Circuit and Ferrari World, all of which are cooled through Tabreed’s plant. In addition, the cooling firm has projects in the Dubai Metro, the Sheikh Zayed Grand mosque and others.
Earlier this year, Abu Dhabi-based Tabreed renewed its agreement with Aldar for a 30-year period to provide cooling services covering 160,000 tonnes through six stations.
Tabreed expects to complete the construction of its plant at Dubai Parks & Resorts in Jebel Ali during the first quarter of 2016, Thabet told Mubasher, adding that this project is through Tabreed’s long-term contract with Meraas Entertainment.
In response to a question by Mubasher’s reporter on the company’s operations in the GCC, Thabet revealed that the cooling firm has two stations in Saudi Arabia, for Aramco as well as the Jebal Omar project in Mecca. The size of anticipated new projects in the kingdom reaches nearly 700,000 tonnes of cooling, he noted.
Tabreed also has three stations in Qatar at a total cooling capacity of 195,000 tonnes, the CEO told Mubasher, adding that a fourth station is in the works and upon completion in 2016 will provide cooling services for a number of residential and commercial buildings.
Tabreed signed a contract in May 2014 with Qatar Cool to build the fourth station, whose production capacity is expected to reach 40,000 tonnes, Thabet noted.
Moreover, the cooling company’s plant on Qatar’s The Pearl is considered the largest in the world, with a cooling capacity of 130,000 tonnes delivered to developmental projects on the island.
Tabreed has one cooling station in Bahrain which uses sea water in addition to two more stations in Oman, carried out through a joint project with a group of Omani shareholders, the CEO added.
Thabet told Mubasher that Tabreed in 2014 added 118,270 tonnes of cooling services delivered to customers, of which 69,500 tonnes were in the UAE, 31,000 were in Saudi Arabia, 16,300 tonnes were in Qatar and 1,500 tonnes were in Bahrain.
Tabreed’s total number of plants in the GCC reached 69, he noted, adding that the company aspires to increase this number in the coming period.
Earlier this year, the cooling company signed a long-term AED 2.6 billion facility to refinance its loans.
On Sunday, the company’s Shareholders convened to discuss the repurchase of 854 million bonds at a cost of AED 1 billion, which represents 28% of the mandatory convertible bonds (MCB) currently held by Mubadala. The MCB were issued to Mubadala as part of Tabreed’s 2011 recapitalization program. The proposed buyback which will save Tabreed over AED 30 million annually was approved, and the repurchased bonds will be cancelled.
Since the start of the capital restructure programme in 2011, Tabreed has succeeded in boosting its operational and financial performance greatly, resulting in major improvements in the company’s credit portfolio, Thabet said, adding that his company is now in a position that enables it to receive better options in financing its loans and recovering its bonds that were issued during the restructure.
Tabreed recently reported a 5% rise in net profits to AED 61 million ($16.5 million) in the first quarter of 2015, compared to AED 58.2 million ($15.8 million) in the same period in 2014. Mubadala is one of Tabreed’s major shareholders with 33% of common shares.
Translated by: Nada Adel Sobhi
