UAE's Amanat Posts 40% Hike In Net Profit Despite Bahrain Hospital Losses

Amanat Holdings, the GCC’s largest healthcare and education investment company, has announced a 40 percent increase in net profit to AED60 million ($16.3 million) for 2019.

Income from investments increased 2.3 percent to AED73.5 million, the company said in a statement.

It added that improved performance of its education sector helped offset the expected negative contribution to investment income from the Royal Hospital for Women & Children which commenced operations in March and is currently in its ramp-up phase.

Amanat said RHWC has successfully launched 90 percent of its medical services, completed the recruitment of the clinical team and signed with key insurance companies, all of which should support the growth of higher patient footfall going forward.

It added that profitability excluding RHWC’s ramp-up losses would have been AED82 million, up 84.9 percent compared to the previous year.

Total expenses amounted to AED51.7 million in 2019, down by 16 percent as Amanat recorded an 11 percent decline in staff costs as well as a 45 percent reduction in project costs.

Amanat’s chairman, Hamad Abdulla Al Shamsi, said: “Throughout 2019 we remained focused on integrating and aligning our portfolio companies, both operationally and strategically, particularly after having deployed over AED1.2 billion across four investments in 2018.

"The merits of our team’s efforts are clearly reflected in Amanat’s performance, and we are well positioned to capitalise on favourable legislative and economic trends in the regional healthcare and education sectors.”

CEO Tristan de Boysson added that RHWC is expected to reach profitability by late 2020.

“We look forward to continue working with our portfolio companies to deliver growth and develop these assets into leading platforms in the region, while focusing on further deployment and debt raising to execute on a strong pipeline of opportunities. In parallel, management will continue to work on cost optimization and operational efficiency at the group level to help maintain our lean structure and maximize shareholder returns,” he added.

Amanat has deployed a total of AED2 billion since inception, utilising 80 percent of its AED2.5 billion paid up capital.