UAE’s Shuaa Capital narrows loss to AED 18.9 mln in Q416

Dubai-listed Shuaa Capital narrowed its net loss to AED 18.9 million in Q4 2016, compared to a loss of AED 161.8 million in the same quarter the previous year.

Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2016 was AED 35 million, down from AED 40 million quarter-on-quarter, the company said in an earnings release.

Loss for fiscal year 2016 narrowed 30 percent to AED 132.5 million year-on-year (YoY), while revenues stood at AED 174 million compared to AED 178 million in the year-ago period.

Group losses came mainly from the lending business, Gulf Finance, which is currently undergoing a restructuring plan, due to provisions of AED 150 million against bad loans for the full year 2016.

Shuaa’s has AED 346.6 million in cash, while net assets were AED 826 million by the end of 2016.

“We enter 2017 on a positive note. The company faced difficulties throughout the year. However, as the new board of directors takes helm, we expect a turnaround year in 2017,” Jassim Alseddiqi, chairman of Shuaa Capital said.

Alseddiqi is also the managing director and chief executive of the Abu Dhabi Financial Group (ADFG), the majority shareholder in the financial services company.

At a press conference on Tuesday, he said that the financial services company would focus on increasing its assets under its management, leveraging its balance sheet and increasing its business in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.