Abu Dhabi - Mubasher: Waha Capital reported on Thursday a net profit of AED 349 million for the first half of 2015, a surge of 224% from AED 107.8 million achieved in the same period of 2014.
“Results were driven by the performance of key portfolio assets AerCap Holdings and Dunia Group, along with the company’s capital markets division,” Waha said in a statement, adding that taking out net non-recurring adjustments, due to the one-off gain that the company recorded that year after unlocking part of the value from its stake in AerCap Holdings, also contributed to the results.
Meanwhile, net profit for Q2-15 stood at AED 166.9 million.
Waha Capital said it continued to benefit from growing earnings per share (EPS) at AerCap Holdings, which posted a net profit of $621 million in H1-15, a surge of 249% year-on-year, while EPS increased 130% from $1.28 to $2.95 per share, following the company’s acquisition of International Lease Finance Corporation in May 2014.
During the half-year period AerCap executed sale and part-out transactions for 38 aircraft (20 in Q1 and 18 in Q2) and recorded a gain on disposal of $88.3 million, compared to $8.9 million in the first half of 2014. Moreover, Waha’s stake in AerCap increased to 13.6%, from 12.6% at the end of 2014.
“This followed a decision by AerCap Holdings to buy back $750 million worth of shares from AIG in June, which had an accretive effect for other shareholders like Waha Capital,” according to a statement.
Meanwhile, Dunia Finance recorded net income of AED 119.6 million for H1-15, a 44.7% year-on-year rise, as low interest rates continued to bolster consumer demand. Dunia also expanded its loan book with a customer base of 187,000 and achieved 49.3% year-on-year growth in its loan portfolio. Customer deposits surged 65.7% from AED 620.9 million in H1-14 to AED 1 billion in H1-15.
Waha’s capital markets division generated income of AED 138.6 million in the half-year period, and launched equities and fixed income funds that will be offered to third-party investors later this year. Both funds delivered strong performance in the first half of the.
