Ittihad Announces Full Year 2023 Financial Results

Transformational year - well positioned for future growth

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2024 / Ittihad International Investment LLC (Ittihad), the leading industrial conglomerate in the UAE, today announces its Full Year 2023 Financial Results.

Financial Highlights

• Group Revenue of $2.8 billion (AED10.4 billion)
• Group Adjusted EBITDA* of $138.7 million (AED509.6 million)
• Successfully launched a 5NC2 debut Sukuk, raising $350 million
• Continued focus on deleveraging the business, with gross debt leverage of 5.3x at year end (down from 6.0x as of December 31, 2022), and adjusted net leverage* stood at 3.4x in 2023, down from 3.5x in 2022
  • o Debt repayments for the year amounted to $119 million (AED436.6 million)
• Strong balance sheet continues to provide capital allocation optionality
  • Net cash and cash equivalents of $153 million, with readily marketable inventories (RMI) of $107 million as at year end
  • $50 million of restricted cash was released in December 2023, with proceeds used to pay down working capital facilities
  • Ittihad is well-placed to continue to capitalise on a pipeline of strategic M&A opportunities to compound growth
• Arranged $88 million of term loan and Export Credit Agency (ECA ) backed term financing for the tissue mill expansion project in Saudi Arabia. The facility is unsecured with a maturity of 12 years door-to-door

Operational Highlights

Infrastructure and Building Materials Manufacturing (IBMM): strong margin growth as a result of positive pricing performance and a significant shift in demand driven by the energy transition and long-term investments in infrastructure and real estate development across the region.

Consumer Goods Manufacturing (CGM): margin compression in the segment in the second and third quarter of the year due to destocking and a rapid correction in both raw material and finished goods prices.

Construction commenced on the new tissue mill in Saudi Arabia, a project that will ensure a more competitive logistics costs and improved price margins in the country.

Metropolic Paper Industries (MPI) became the main tissue supplier for Carrefour, a leading retail brand in the UAE.

Business Services: Double digit growth in EBITDA achieved across the waste collection, city cleaning, and sewage network services. Ittihad successfully penetrated a niche market in this segment by introducing robotic camera technology solution for sewage network inspection and repair, seeing strong levels of demand in the local market. Ittihad is well-placed to take advantage of potential opportunities for regional expansion with this technology.