Abu Dhabi's Waha Capital is considering to invest in the regional maritime and oil and gas sectors, as it aims to rely on its strong financing to double its assets over five years, its CEO said on February 08. "By 2017 we should double our assets," Salem Rashid al-Noaimi, told Reuters in an interview.
"Our core areas will be maritime, offshore oil and gas support services, we know the space, we have strong cash flow," he said. Waha is close to completing some transactions, he said, declining to elaborate as the deals are not yet closed.
Total assets of Waha stood at 4.23 billion dirhams ($1.15 billion) end-2011, up 11.4 percent over the previous year. Oil exporter Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates is investing billions of dollars in developing oil fields and ramping up production.
Waha has its financing in place for new investments. Last year the firm closed a $505 million revolving facility with banks and secured approval from shareholders for 1 billion dirhams convertible bonds issue. It also has $200 million in ready capital to deploy and is currently putting in place another facility, he said.
"We have the firepower to make further investments, we are in talks for another facility," said al Noaimi. Waha, which owns 21.3 percent of aircraft lessor AerCap, plans to also grow its aircraft leasing business and all investments here will be via AerCap, he said.
AerCap, which has sold its aeroturbine business, committed nearly $1 billion for purchase of aviation assets for delivery last year.
Waha, whose shareholders include Abu Dhabi government entities, has downscaled its 15 billion dirhams Al Markaz real estate project, after a real estate crash in Abu Dhabi. The project now includes only industrial warehouses and storage solutions with the first phase deliveries by mid-2012. "We removed the low income housing out because it is not profitable," he said. Last week, Waha reported a fourth-quarter net profit of 92.95 million dirhams, down 46 percent, citing a one-time gain in its results a year earlier.
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