Waha Capital to market public equities, credit funds

L to R , Salim Rashid Al Noaimi, CEO,Waha Capital, Hussain Jassem Al Nowais, Chairman, Waha Capital, Aengus Kelly, CEO, AerCap , briefing the media at Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi on 25-10-2010. KT FILE

Abu Dhabi-based investment company Waha Capital's Capital Markets Division will begin to market its public equities and credit funds to regional investors in the coming weeks, marking the launch of a new fee-generating business.
"The Capital Markets Division of Waha Capital launched equities and fixed income funds that will be offered to third-party investors during the fourth quarter of the year," Waha Capital said in a regulatory statement to Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.
The Division generated income of Dh167.4 million in the first nine months.
Despite volatility in global financial markets in recent months, the fixed income portfolio has generated a cumulative return of 58.4 per cent since its inception in 2012 and a year-to-date return of 7.6 per cent. The equity portfolio has generated a cumulative return of 44.3 per cent since its inception in January 2014, and a year-to-date return of 9.8 per cent.
Waha Capital has reported a net profit of Dh466.9 million for the first nine months of 2015, driven by the performance of key portfolio investments AerCap Holdings, Dunia Group and the capital markets division.
Net profit for the nine-month period was 31 per cent higher than an adjusted net profit of Dh355.9 million achieved in the first nine months of 2014, after taking out net non-recurring items, primarily the one-off gain that the company recorded last year on its stake in AerCap Holdings.
Waha Capital, which manages direct Principal Investments as well as global securities portfolios, recorded a third quarter net profit of Dh117.9 million.
Commenting on the results, Hussain Jasim Al Nowais, chairman of Waha Capital, said, "Waha Capital is performing very well against a difficult global macro-economic and markets backdrop. We are benefiting from an increasingly diversified portfolio, which includes investments in solid, well-managed companies."
The chairman said his company has "a strong balance sheet and will invest further in some of the fastest growing sectors of the regional economy." Salem Rashid Al Noaimi, chief executive officer and managing director of Waha Capital, added, "We are in a strong financial position, which allows us to focus on growing and further diversifying our assets.
"Our investment teams are assessing new direct investment opportunities in energy, infrastructure, healthcare and education, and current market conditions mean that this is an opportune period to deploy capital in these areas."
During the first nine months of 2015, Waha Capital continued to benefit from an increase in earnings per share at AerCap Holdings following the New York-listed company's acquisition of International Lease Finance Corporation in May 2014.
AerCap, in which Waha Capital owns a 13.6 per cent stake, reported a net profit of $914.5 million for the first nine months of 2015, a 78.5 per cent increase from a year earlier.
During that period, AerCap signed lease agreements for 216 aircraft and executed sale and part-out transactions for 55 aircraft.
Dunia Finance, in which Waha Capital owns a 25 per cent stake, recorded 25 per cent higher net income to Dh165.9 million in the 9-month period, as low interest rates continue to increase demand for consumer financing.
The company now has a customer base of 199,000 and achieved 39.2 per cent growth in its loan portfolio in the year to 30 September 2015. In that period, customer deposits have also witnessed strong growth, increasing by 52.9 per cent year on year to Dh1.1 billion as at 30th September 2015.
- haseeb@khaleejtimes.com