Abu Dhabi partly owned Tabreed reports 30% rise in quarterly profits

District cooling firm Tabreed , which is partly owned by Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala, reported a 30-percent rise in quarterly profits on Sunday fueled by higher revenues from its core chilled water business.

The Dubai-listed firm posted a net attributable profit of 68.7 million dirhams ($18.7 million) in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2012 compared with 52.9 million dirhams in the prior year period.

Tabreed provides cooling systems to residential and commercial properties in the Gulf region, including Dubai's metro network.

Revenue from its chilled water business for the quarter was 263.4 million dirhams, up 13 percent.

Tabreed, also called National Central Cooling Company, made 2012 net profit of 236.3 million dirhams, up 29 percent.

"Tabreed continues to evaluate new projects with key entities in the UAE and Abu Dhabi," said Jasim Thabet, Tabreed's chief executive on a conference call.

The firm has 560 million dirhams cash available and has no need to secure funding immediately, Thabet said.

Tabreed, in which state fund Mubadala has a 27.3 percent stake, is among several Gulf firms which has had to restructure its debt after the property market boom ended abruptly in 2009.

It secured 3.1 billion dirhams of financing from Mubadala in March 2011 to help tackle its debt pile. In December, the cooling firm agreed to issue 1.13 billion dirhams in convertible bonds to Mubadala as part of a recapitalization plan.

Tabreed currently has 59 plants in the UAE with 52 wholly-owned and operated by the company while seven are operated through its affiliates and subsidiaries. It also has six plants across Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, operating through affiliates and subsidiaries.

Tabreed shares were up 0.61 percent on the Dubai bourse on Sunday, up 37 percent on the year.