Taqa shares sink despite narrowing third quarter losses

Shares in Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) sank to a two-month low on Thursday morning, despite the company reporting narrowing losses for the third quarter.

The energy investment company's net loss for the three-month period ended September 30 reduced to Dh194 million from Dh524m reported for the corresponding period of 2016, Taqa said in a statement to Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares are traded. Revenues for the period slipped to Dh4.18 billion from Dh4.2bn.

The company's shares sank 6 per cent to 61 fils in early Thursday trading, their lowest level since September.

The third quarter income was pulled down by the unscheduled outage at Oman's Sohar Aluminum smelter and negative mark-to-market movements at the company’s US power plant tolling agreement during the period, it said in its statement.

The company's nine-month loss shrank to Dh82m from Dh1.72bn reported for the same period of 2016.

Total liquidity remained strong at Dh12.1bn, including Dh2.9bn in cash and cash equivalents and Dh9.2bn of undrawn credit facilities. The company’s total debt was reduced by Dh2.6bn in the first nine months of 2017 while interest paid reduced by Dh286m.

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Taqa reports Q2 profit on back of higher oil and gas revenue

After taking big loss on assets, Taqa sets recovery course

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“The company has been able to reduce our financing costs and gradually lower our debt, which will have a positive impact on our financial performance over the coming years,” said Taqa's acting chief operating officer Saeed Hamad Al Dhaheri.

“We’re pleased to see continued strong free cash flow generation, as well as improved margins across our portfolio, which has benefited from increased efficiencies across our operations. During the period, TAQA achieved first oil at our Atrush development in Iraq, which marks an important milestone for the Group.”

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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New process leads to panic among jobseekers

As a UAE-based travel agent who processes tourist visas from the Philippines, Jennifer Pacia Gado is fielding a lot of calls from concerned travellers just now. And they are all asking the same question.

“My clients are mostly Filipinos, and they [all want to know] about good conduct certificates,” says the 34-year-old Filipina, who has lived in the UAE for five years.

Ms Gado contacted the Philippines Embassy to get more information on the certificate so she can share it with her clients. She says many are worried about the process and associated costs – which could be as high as Dh500 to obtain and attest a good conduct certificate from the Philippines for jobseekers already living in the UAE.

“They are worried about this because when they arrive here without the NBI [National Bureau of Investigation] clearance, it is a hassle because it takes time,” she says.

“They need to go first to the embassy to apply for the application of the NBI clearance. After that they have go to the police station [in the UAE] for the fingerprints. And then they will apply for the special power of attorney so that someone can finish the process in the Philippines. So it is a long process and more expensive if you are doing it from here.”