Waha Capital Reports Net Profit Of AED231 Million For 2020

Waha Capital PJSC, a leading investment company in Abu Dhabi (ADX: WAHA), today announced net profit of AED231 million, compared to a loss of AED616 million in 2019.

In a statement today on its audited financial results for 2020, the company said that consolidated operating income amounted to AED662.2 million, compared to AED 4.8 million the year before.

In the third quarter Waha Capital made an investment of $50 million in Despegar.com, a leading NYSE-listed company in the online travel sector in Latin America.

Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi, Chairman of Waha Capital, said: “It is a testament to the robustness of Waha Capital’s governance and risk management processes that the company was able to navigate the past year, with all its challenges, so successfully. That we were also able to accomplish a change of leadership so seamlessly in the third quarter says much for the effective overall management of the business. The positive results we saw in 2020 are rooted in the implementation of a turnaround strategy that demonstrated commendable determination and resilience, such as going ahead with a number of ground-breaking investments and launching a new fund.”

Ahmed Khalifa Al Mehairi, Chief Executive Officer of Waha Capital, added: “The story of our performance in 2020 portrays the success of both verticals of the business – Public Markets and Private Investments – in pressing ahead with their strategies for the year despite the high volatility brought about by the pandemic. On the investment side in particular our teams were able to generate excess returns ahead of industry benchmarks while taking advantage of attractive valuations that brought short term gains as well as ones likely to crystallise into longer term value for our investors. Our portfolio of Private Investments continued to implement turnaround strategies leading to a positive contribution from this business in 2020.”

According to the statement, the net operating income amounted to AED662m against AED5 million in 2019. Total general and admin expenses were reduced by 15.8% to AED 217 million against AED258 million in 2019, while the total assets stood AED 8.9 billion against AED 9.3billion in 2019.

Waha Capital’s two flagship funds significantly outperformed industry benchmarks, despite market turbulence as a result of the ongoing pandemic.

The Waha CEEMEA Credit Fund SP achieved a return of 14.9% in 2020, representing 235% growth since launch in 2012. Waha MENA Equity Fund SP generated a total return of 14.3% in 2020, achieving a cumulative increase of 226% in value since its inception in 2014.