Abu Dhabi's Aabar quadruples Q1 profit

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OIL STORY: Founded in early 2005, the Abu Dhabi-based company had explored oil and gas in Southeast Asia. (Getty Images)

Abu Dhabi's Aabar Investment, a stakeholder in German carmaker Daimler, said on Monday it had more than quadrupled first quarter net profit on gains from derivatives and currency fluctuations.

Aabar earned AED177m ($48.19m) in the first quarter, compared to AED40.14 ($11m)in the year earlier period, the firm said in a statement.

"Most of it is because of fair valuation of derivative instruments and currency gains because we had loans in euros. This drove the profit this quarter," Chief Financial Officer Mohammed Al Husseiny told Reuters.

Aabar said in March Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) would raise its stake to 71 percent via convertible bonds issued by Aabar.

"The balance sheet growth has been massive as it is driven by the contribution on the equities side of the convertible bonds," Husseiny said.

Total shareholders' equity as of March 31 stood at AED9.2bn, compared to AED2.3bn on Dec. 31, Aabar said in the statement.

Husseiny said asset growth had been driven by Aabar's recent investments. Last month, Aabar bought a 9.1 percent stake in Daimler, in a deal worth 1.95 billion euros ($2.56 billion).

"On the asset side the growth is due to the effect of investments that the company has started making," Husseiny told Reuters.

Total assets as of Mar 31 stood at AED14.5bn dirhams, compared to AED3.4bn as of Dec. 31, the statement said

Formerly called Aabar Petroleum Investments Co and founded in early 2005, the Abu Dhabi-based company explored oil and gas in Southeast Asia before selling off in 2008 core units like Pearl Energy and Dalma Energy that it had only acquired a couple of years earlier.

Aabar has since branched out into real estate and financial services, recently buying AIG Private Bank from troubled insurer American International Group Inc for 407 million Swiss francs ($355.5m) in equity and debt and taking a 3.3 percent stake in Italian toll road operator Atlantia, formerly known as Autostrade.

AIG Private Bank, renamed Falcon Private Bank, will operate as an independent private bank headquartered in Zurich, Aabar said in its statement.

Earnings per share in the first quarter stood at AED0.14, compared to AED0.04 in the year-earlier period, Aabar said. (Reuters)

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