DI net profit up 4% to Dh1.56 billion

Dubai Investments (DI), a well-diversified conglomerate, yesterday said its net profit rose four per cent to Dh1.56 billion for 2008 against Dh1.5bn for the previous year, hit by significant write-downs.

The company announced a consolidated total income of Dh4.41bn for 2008 compared to Dh3.41bn for the previous year, an increase of 29 per cent.

DI's profit for the year from its core business activities increased to Dh1.116bn from Dh925 million for the previous year, representing a growth of 21 per cent.

However, the company announced Dh368m in write-downs due to mark-to-market requirements in its investment portfolio of shares, bonds and structured products. The firm said it maintained high liquidity with strong cash flows generated from its business activities.

Khalid bin Kalban, Managing Director and CEO of Dubai Investments, said: "Dubai Investments achieved its best annual results in spite of extremely challenging economic and financial conditions.

"The fundamentals of our business remain strong due to the diversified investment base, and we are well placed to take advantage of potential opportunities in the coming months due to our strong liquidity position."

Total assets stood at Dh14.11bn at the end of last year from Dh10.24bn for the previous year, registering a growth of 38 per cent.

The company's net worth stood at Dh7.23bn, a growth of 46 per cent over the previous year's Dh4.96bn. This was achieved due to substantial net profits realised and increase in share capital on rights issue.

The return on average net worth achieved for the year is 26 per cent and return on average share capital is 58 per cent. The earnings per share (EPS) for the year is Dh0.48, while the return on average assets achieved for the year is 13 per cent.

DI stock fell three fils to Dh0.95 on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) yesterday. The counter attracted 89 deals of 3.91 million shares. The share had recorded a 52-week high of Dh5.92.

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