Tabreed, the Middle East's award-winning district cooling pioneer, has signed a US$ 100 million revolving credit facility with a group of financiers led by BNP Paribas to fund further expansion of the company's operations.
The Facility has an initial maturity of one year and is subject to two 12 month extension options at each lender's discretion. The Facility has a margin of 45 basis points (bps) per annum and a commitment fee of 13.5 bps per annum. The extension fee where applicable will be five bps flat per extension.
"Tabreed has won many new contracts recently which necessitate further investments to build plants that will supply cooling to all these new developments," said Mohammed Saif Al Mazrouei, Chairman, Tabreed.
BNP Paribas is the mandated lead arranger and bookrunner as well as the facility agent for the deal while arrangers include Mashreqbank psc, National Bank of Bahrain BSC, National Bank of Oman (S.A.O.G.), National Bank of Fujairah P.S.C., Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Brussels Branch, The Arab Investment Company S.A.A. and First Gulf Bank.
Tabreed recently announced record-breaking annual net profit for the financial year 2006, with an increase of 104.1%, over 2005. The company's net profit increased to US$ 28.6 million compared to US$14 million in 2005.
The UAE-based company, with operations in six countries, generated revenues of US$128.73 million in 2006 - an increase of 18% over 2005 - and posted a gross profit of US$51.78 million for 2006, up from a previous 2005 high of US$41.61 million.
-Ends-
About Tabreed
Tabreed is a UAE public joint stock company established in June 1998 and is now one of the world's largest district cooling utilities. Tabreed provides district cooling services throughout the GCC countries with offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah, Doha, Manama, Al Khobar, Muscat and Amman. The company has been growing at a very rapid pace and was awarded two gold awards in 2004 by the International District Energy Association in the USA for new customers by the number of buildings it serves and by the cooling load.
In 2006, Tabreed's CEO Dany Safi won IDEA's Unsung Hero accolade while in January 2007, Safi bagged IDEA's Global Pioneer award while Tabreed scooped its Global Partner honour.
The company was assigned a BBB- rating with a stable outlook by Standard and Poor's - the world's foremost provider of independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data.
Tabreed pioneers energy efficient gas-fired and electric-powered district cooling solutions in the UAE and across the region. The company offers customers the highest quality service through an integrated energy system devised to help them optimize their energy usage and reduce power and maintenance costs. Tabreed is a member of the International District Energy Association (IDEA), Association of Energy Engineers (AEE), International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE), International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR), American Gas Cooling Centre, Inc. (AGCC) and the Dubai Quality Group.
For further information:
Rita Chahoud
PR and Communications Manager
Tabreed
Tel: +971 4 3404422
Fax: +971 4 340
Email: rchahoud@tabreed.com
© Press Release 2007
