Abu Dhabi's Tabreed posts a cool profit

Tabreed, the district cooling company, posted a nine per cent rise in second quarter profits after the completion of its recapitalisation reduced its finance costs by Dh25 million (US$6.8m)."Our strategy of developing the business for the longer term by focusing on the core business of chilled water is paying off," said Sujit Parhar, chief executive of the company. The firm is returning to a sustainable footing after becoming mired in debt during the global downturn. The company did not need to raise fresh debt and aimed to become self-financing after next year, said Mr Parhar. During the last quarter, the firm completed a recapitalisation programme involving refinancing Dh2.63 billion of debt and receiving Dh3.1bn of long-term capital from Mubadala Development. Tabreed repaid a Dh735m sukuk last month.The firm's refocus on its core business has been boosted by growing demand for chilled water. Chilled water revenue for the first half of the year Dh425.6m, a 29 per cent rise from the same period of last year. From / The National