National Central Cooling Company’s 2008 Un-audited Preliminary Financial Results are its Strongest to Date

National Central Cooling Company PJSC (ticker symbol: Tabreed), ‘Tabreed’ the Abu-Dhabi based utility company released its un-audited preliminary financial results for 2008 today. The results revealed the district cooling company’s strongest revenues and gross profit since the company was started in 1998.

Financial Highlights:

• Results were driven by strong performance across all four core businesses of Services, Chilled Water, Contracting and Manufacturing
• 2008 Revenues:  AED 734 million, an increase of 30% over 2007
• 2008 Gross Profit:  AED 319 million, an increase of 26% over 2007

Operational Highlights:

• 16 new cooling plants came online in 2008, adding 348,000 tonnes of cooling capacity, bringing the total district cooling plants in operation to 31
• 21 cooling plants were under construction in 2008, with 19 expected to come online in 2009 adding a further 161,300 tonnes of cooling capacity

Since releasing its first financial results in 1999, Tabreed has consistently increased revenues and gross profit every year. For 2008, annual revenues were AED 734 million, an increase of 30% over 2007. Gross profit for 2008 was AED 319 million, an increase of 26% over 2007. The company’s net profit was unfavourably affected by a non-cash finance cost of AED 12.2 million attributed to a derivative liability arising from a convertible bond. Without this non-cash finance cost, net profit for 2008 would have increased by 19% over the previous year.

Commenting on the results, Khadem Al Qubaisi, Tabreed Chairman said, “In our ten years of operation, we have built our district cooling business on delivering a stable and consistent return to our shareholders within an environmentally-sustainable approach. In the current financial environment, we are pleased with today’s results and the long-term stability of our utility company business model. ”

Khaled Al Qubaisi, Tabreed Managing Director added, “With the increasing demand for cooling in the Middle East, Tabreed is committed to the growth of Abu Dhabi and the region. Our strong performance in 2008 combined with the operational milestones expected for 2009 mean that Tabreed will continue to be a key player in the region’s long-term sustainable infrastructure growth.”
The above results are the un-audited preliminary results, thus are subject to changes that may be caused from the final determination of certain accounting estimates.