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Investment Corp. of Dubai, the Dubai government’s main investment arm, reported a net profit of 10.1 billion dirhams ($2.75 billion) for 2021, after a loss of over 15 billion dirhams in 2020, as the economy recovered from the impact of the pandemic and Expo 2020 boosted activity.
Revenues were 169.4 billion, up 24.5 percent compared to the prior year period, driven primarily by elevated oil and gas prices and higher levels of activity, ICD said in a statement on Tuesday.
Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, Managing Director, at ICD said: "Whilst good progress was made during the earlier part of the year despite the virus variant disruptions, the second part of the year saw a much stronger recovery helped by the easing of global travel restrictions and the positive impact of the hosting of Expo 2020 Dubai."
The pivot to profitability was underpinned by cost discipline, lower impairments in banking, real estate, and hospitality sectors, and aluminium production, according to the investment company.
The net profit attributable to the equity holder was 5.5 billion dirhams, while balance-sheet remained above 1 trillion dirhams, with assets and liabilities down 1 percent respectively to 1.1 trillion dirhams and 862.7 billion dirhams.
ICD’s portfolio spans across sectors. It owns Emirates airline and has stakes in various top companies including Emirates NBD, Commercial Bank of Dubai, Emaar Properties and Emirates National Oil Co.
(Reporting by Brinda Darasha; editing by Seban Scaria)
