Mubadala profit surges two-fold in H1 to Dh10.9B

Mubadala plans to launch a $400 million fund to invest in leading European technology companies.

Mubadala Investment Company of Abu Dhabi made a first half group profit of Dh10.9 billion, boosted by the sale of part of its stake in BP and the solid performance of other stocks in its portfolio.
The strategic investment firm did not provide a comparative profit figure for the same period last year as Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC) was merged with Mubadala in March this year.
For the whole of 2017, the Abu Dhabi state fund, which was formed through the merger of Mubadala Development Company and International Petroleum Investment Company in 2017, reported total comprehensive income growth to Dh10.3 billion from Dh5.1 billion in 2016.
The unlisted wealth fund, which has stakes in General Electric and private equity firm Carlyle Group announced a net profit of Dh4.2 billion for the first half of 2017. Total assets of Mubadala, including consolidated ADIC holdings, were Dh832 billion for the period ending June 30, Mubadala said in a statement on Thursday.
Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, group chief executive and managing director, said in the statement that Mubadala continued to invest in new sectors and geographies in the first half of this year.
"We also monetised select assets at good valuations, to deliver financial returns. And, the decision to bring the Abu Dhabi Investment Council into the Mubadala Group has increased the scale and breadth of our portfolio," Al Mubarak said.
The company made over Dh1 billion from the sale of some of its stake in BP.
A jump in the stock prices of some companies, such as AMD where Mubadala holds a stake, also helped boost profit.
Last week, Mubadala announced it was selling a 25 per cent stake in Spanish energy company Cepsa in an initial public offering on the Spanish stock exchange in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Mubadala, which has committed $15 billion to the Softbank Vision Fund, plans to launch a $400 million fund to invest in leading European technology companies.
The fund, which is active in 13 industries and 30 countries around the world, places emphasis on forging partnerships with organisations that have high standards of governance.
- issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi