Waha Capital swings to 2019 loss on one-off costs

Dubai: Waha Capital on Tuesday posted an annual net loss as the Abu Dhabi-based investment company was hurt by one-off costs at its private investments division and the sale of its stake in aircraft lessor AerCap.

The firm has been undergoing a restructuring of its businesses, which it said was concluded last year, but not before Waha was forced to report a net loss of Dh616.3 million for 2019. Waha Capital reported Dh145 million as net profit in 2018.

Waha Capital divested 17 million shares of its remaining stake in Dublin-based firm AerCap, the world’s largest aircraft lessor, which generated sale proceeds of Dh933 million. Driven by the AerCap exit, the company said its total assets at year-end fell to Dh9.3 billion from Dh11.6 billion in the prior year.

“We are optimistic that this recently-adopted turnaround strategy will yield positive results throughout 2020 as the business focuses on generating increased revenue and creating long term shareholder value,” said Chairman Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi.

However, the company’s flagship funds, Waha CEEMEA Credit and Waha MENA Equity, brought in higher returns in 2019, boosting its Asset Management division’s AUM by 32 per cent. The CEEMEA Fund and the MENA Equity Fund achieved returns of 19.6 per cent and 24.3 per cent respectively.