Reinforcing its fiscal stability and solid business performance in a challenging economic environment, the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP) today announced a 42% year-on-year rise in its net income for the period from January to September 2010. Disclosing the results at APICORP's quarterly board meeting in Cairo, Ahmad Bin Hamad Al-Nuaimi, Chief Executive and General Manager said the organisation's net income for the first three quarters reached $64.31 million. The government of UAE has a 17 % stake in APICORP.
The quarterly board meeting of the Multilateral Development Bank owned by the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), held on 23rd October, and was attended by representatives of OAPEC member states: UAE, Bahrain, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, Libya and Egypt.
Al-Nuaimi also revealed that APICORP's total assets rose 7.5% year-on year to reach US$ 4.15 billion at the end of September. Total shareholders' equity increased over 13% compared to the same period in 2009 to reach US$ 1.1 billion.
Al-Nuaimi said, "The strong results yet again show APICORP's outstanding resilience to difficult financing conditions prevalent both in the oil and gas industry and the larger economy. We have followed a prudent yet proactive approach to financing and investing, which has ensured steady growth throughout the past few years. Capitalizing on our experience and expertise in oil and gas investments we sought to come up with innovative financing solutions; a need of the hour. As a result, despite the tight credit environment, APICORP participated in financing oil and gas transactions with project values of US$ 9 billion over the past couple of months with the Multilateral Bank's commitments aggregating US$ 213 million. Our robust capital position and low leverage have enabled us to sustain the dynamism of our business strategy even when the overall economy has slowed down."
The results announcement comes close on the heels of APICORP's debut Saudi Arabian Riyal (SAR) 2 billion bond issue, which was oversubscribed three times following massive demand from institutional investors. The SAR bond was the first such foray in the Kingdom by a Multilateral Development Bank.
Al Nuaimi further said, "The overwhelming response to our debut SAR bond demonstrated the confidence of the investor community in our underlying financial strengths, a confidence that was endorsed by Moody's A1 rating for the bond. APICORP's latest financial results strongly validate this confidence. We see MENA energy capital investments recovering quickly from the post-crisis contraction with investment potential rising to $615 billion in the 2011-2015 period. As financing markets return to activity, the MENA region is set to witness a shift in oil and gas demand patterns with China and Far Eastern economies driving the bulk of growth. APICORP is well positioned to leverage this turnaround to both expand and diversify its financing and equity portfolios."
The Multilateral Bank reported a net income of US$47 million for the first six months of 2010, a 95% rise over the same period last year, and for the 12 months ending 2009 it reported a net income of US$59 million, a 111% rise over same period in 2008. As a multilateral development bank, APICORP enjoys a de facto preferred creditor status.
