MANAMA: Inovest announced its financial results for the first three months of 2022, showing a consolidated net profit attributable to parent shareholders of $1.29 million in comparison to a net loss of $74,000 for the same quarter of last year.
Accordingly, basic earnings per share for the first quarter of 2022, rose to 0.43 cents as compared to loss per share of (0.02) cents for the same period in 2021.
The increase is due to an improvement in the performance of the group’s revenues from its real estate investments as well as management and other service fees.
The net operating profit stood at $1.28m in the first quarter of this year in comparison to a loss of $278,000 for the first quarter of 2021, a solid improvement attributable to gains in consolidated operating income as well as an effective reduction in operating expenses.
The consolidated operating income increased by 79pc to $3.45m in comparison to $1.93m whilst the group’s operating expenses were reduced slightly, standing at $2.17m in the first quarter of 2022 in comparison to $2.21m for the same period of 2021.
In regard to the group’s key balance sheet indicators, the equity attributable to parent shareholders stood at $144.38m in comparison to $143.09m at the end of 2021.
Within the same period, Inovest reported a slight increase in consolidated total assets which stood at $245.75m in comparison to $243.48m at the end of 2021.
On the liquidity front, Inovest’s cash and bank balances stood at 11pc of the total consolidated assets.
To that end, the cash and bank balances stood firm at $26.38m.
Inovest chairman Mohammed Al Shalfan said, “We quite thankfully started this year from solid grounds and with the necessary momentum to achieve several initiatives planned within the first quarter of the year. In accordance and fulfillment of our new strategy, the group was able to focus on activating its presence in the real estate development sector as well as building strategic partnerships through its key subsidiary and real estate development arm, Al Khaleej Development (Tameer).
“In other developments, the recently announced agreement between First Gulf Real Estate Company (FGREC), in which Inovest is a major investor, and Sumou Holding, a Saudi based mega-developer headquartered in Saudi Arabia has also crossed a new milestone.
“The agreement associated to the development of sea-facing land totaling one million square metres in the Eastern Province is in the midst of preparing for the issuance of approvals and licensing from the concerned authorities in Saudi Arabia, all of which are expected during the last quarter of this year.
“Going forward into 2022, our focus will continue to be on delivering the pillars and objectives of our approved business plan towards ensuring the creation of additional value for our esteemed shareholders.”
Inovest chief executive Yasser Al Jar provided additional operational insight, “We are pleased to see the sustainability of Inovest’s group-wide profitability for the seventh year running; a testament to the strength of both our strategy and the quality of our investment portfolio.
“Looking at our latest investments, we have seen consistently solid performance from Advanced Projects Group Holding, based in Kuwait. The company which is the only specialised regional manufacturer of Wood Plastic Composite (WPC) products has continued to record exceptional levels of performance, exceeding budgetary estimates for the first quarter of this year, and heralding a promising investment horizon.
“Within our subsidiaries, Tamcon Contracting has staked an increasing presence as a key local contracting company having won several recently announced tenders. To that end, Tamcon has begun groundworks related to the construction of four residential buildings, which include 282 units.
“Additionally, in another 520 housing unit project, several preliminary technical meetings have been completed towards launching the project, which will cover construction of 520 housing units. On another front, Inovest’s BIW Labour Accommodations (BIW LAC) have seen significant improvement in its current occupancy rate as a result of re-rejuvenation in the contracting sector fueled by new private and public sector development projects.
“As for investments in other sectors, INOVEST has made leeway into several prospective investments, one in the healthcare sector and another more advanced opportunity in the food and beverage sector.”
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