Dubai – Mubasher: National Central Cooling Company’s (Tabreed) shareholders have approved a 19% year-on-year increase in cash dividends for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2018.
The leading UAE-based regional district cooling utility is to distribute a cash dividend of 9.5 fils per share for the previous year, the company said in a statement on Thursday.
“Our progress has deservedly earned Tabreed a reputation for enduring reliable performance which has assisted in securing our first international opportunity outside the GCC as we signed a 30-year concession for Amaravati, the new capital of Andhra Pradesh in India,” Tabreed’s chairman Khaled Abdulla Al Qubaisi said.
In the same vein, Tabreed reported a 7% year-on-year growth in net profit for the full-year 2018, recording AED 427.6 million, according to a statement.
The company has added 39,061 refrigeration tons (RTs) of new connections, raising the RTs of cooling capacity to over 1.1 million.
Tabreed acquired a 50% stake in the Abu Dhabi-based S&T Cool District Cooling Company LLC from Aldar Properties in 2018.
Moreover, the company sold part of its stake in its associate Saudi Tabreed to the IDB Infrastructure Fund II and raised $500 million sukuk with a seven-year tenor that was 50% oversubscribed.
For his part, Tabreed’s CEO Jasim Husain Thabetsaid: “Tabreed enjoyed another successful year in 2018, with revenues rising to AED 1.4 billion.”
“Our financial strength, reflected in a strong balance sheet and consistent recurring income and cash flows, gives us the ability to continue to invest in our operations and networks whilst delivering growing dividends to shareholders,” he added.
Tabreed operates 74 district cooling plants in the region including Abu Dhabi’s Al Maryah Island, Yas Island, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Dubai Metro, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, Dubai Parks and Resorts, and the Jabal Omar Development in the Holy City of Mecca, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
