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Dubai Investments sees 40% growth

Dubai Investments Co. should post second-quarter profit growth of 40% compared to the same period last year, the company's chief executive said on Wednesday.

Dubai Investments, the largest diversified holding company in the UAE by market value, made 292.12 million dirhams in the second quarter of 2006.
That would imply 2007 second-quarter profits of about 409 million dirhams.

"We see 40 per cent growth in second-quarter profit compared to the second quarter of last year," Khalid bin Kalban told reporters.

Dubai Investments posted a record quarterly profit for the first three months of the year, with net income surging 73% compared to the year-earlier period.

Bin Kalban had said in April the company may post full-year profit-growth of at least 45%. That would imply profit of 1.43 billion dirhams, compared with 989 million in 2006.

The company also plans to invest at least 1 billion dirhams ($272.3 million) in Abu Dhabi's industrial sector by the end of 2008, Kalban said.

INVESTMENT PLANS

"We have already invested 1 billion dirhams in Abu Dhabi and we are looking to invest another 1 billion before the end of 2008 in the Industrial City," he said.

"We are in discussions with the Industrial City of Abu Dhabi (ICAD) to bring in three or four existing factories, fully-owned by Dubai Investments. There are a lot of opportunities for industrial growth in Abu Dhabi."

The government-owned Industrial City of Abu Dhabi is seeking to draw factories to the emirate to diversify its economy away from oil.

Kalban said one of the firm's Abu Dhabi projects was a glass company, with commercial production planned for October 2008.

"We have also bought a 51 per cent stake in a white aluminium extrusion plant in Abu Dhabi for about 50 million dirhams," he added.

Kalban also said Dubai Investments would sell 30% of its subsidiary M'Sharie Company in a private placement this year. M'Sharie holds stakes in companies including Emirates District Cooling and Dubai International Driving Center.

"Valuation for the sale is going on now," he said. "We will divest 30 per cent in a private placement in the region by the end of the year."

He said Dubai Investments may acquire a bank in Sudan.

"We are now negotiating to invest in an existing bank that is listed in Khartoum. We are waiting for approval from the authorities and shareholders," Kalban said.

If it materialises, this would be the company's second investment in a bank.

Earlier this year, Dubai Investments took a 5% stake in Singapore's Islamic Bank of Asia.

"We will bridge the gap for Islamic banking products and services that are not available in Singapore and we will also cover Brunei and Philippines,"
Kalban said.

He said Dubai Investments was setting up a glass factory in Qatar and was in talks to acquire one in Saudi Arabia.

"We are now about to establish a glass factory in Qatar and we are in negotiations to acquire a glass factory in Saudi Arabia. Both of these are growing markets," he said.

Dubai Investments said on Tuesday it would set up a 500 million dirham investment company in the UAE emirate of Fujairah that would begin operations this month.

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