Shareholders of Dubai’s Empower approve $116m dividend

Shareholders in Empower, also known as Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation, have approved a total dividend of $116m (Dhs425m), which translate to Dhs0.043 per share.

The dividends are approved for the second half of 2022 and are set to be paid to shareholders in April 2023. The district cooling services provider said the payout represents 42.5 per cent of its paid-up capital.

Empower’s full-year net profit jumped by 7 per cent year-on-year to Dhs1bn in 2022 while its revenues reached Dhs2.8bn, a 13.3 per cent increase compared to 2021.

The company attributed the growth in its revenues to a 13.3 per cent increase in the demand for district cooling services. Empower is providing district cooling services to more than 1,463 buildings as of the end of December 2022. This allowed the company to increase its market share to more than 80 per cent.

Read: Dubai: Empower’s net profit tops Dhs1bn for 2022

High-profile developments that are being serviced by the company include Atlantis The Royal Hotel, Museum of the Future, Marsa Al Arab, One Zabeel and Wasl1.

The dividend is aligned with the company’s policy of distributing a minimum dividend amount of Dhs850m per annum in the first two fiscal years following its listing on the Dubai bourse.

Empower approves distributing AED 425 million dividends to shareholders for the second half of 2022. Empower expects to pay a minimum dividend amount of AED 850 million per annum in the first two fiscal years following its listing on the Dubai Financial Market. pic.twitter.com/aYJrXQC0OA

— EMPOWER (@Empower_ae) March 29, 2023

Empower IPO

Meanwhile, Empower’s initial public offering in Dubai raised Dhs2.66bn after shareholders priced its shares at the top of a marketed range and the offering drew $34bn in orders from local, regional, international and retail investors.

Read: Empower IPO raises over Dhs2.6bn

Shareholders Dubai Electricity & Water Authority and Emirates Power Investment sold 2 billion shares, representing a 20 per cent stake of the company’s paid-up capital, at Dhs1.33 apiece.

The company is the fourth state-run entity to list on the Dubai Financial Markets in 2022 as part of a broader plan to list 10 state-owned companies to boost investor interest in the city’s stock market.

Founded in 2003, Empower owns and operates 81 district cooling plants and provides district cooling energy to its customers through 380 kilometres of insulated pipes.

Growth prospects

The company will focus on investing in developing its district cooling infrastructure and expanding its transmission and distribution networks in Dubai.

Empower said it will invest Dhs450m in February to cater to the needs of more than 43 buildings in Dubai Maritime City with world-class district cooling services in two phases through two plants located within the city.

The district cooling services provider will operate with a cooling capacity of more than 63,000 refrigeration tons (RT). The first phase includes supplying cooling energy to 27 buildings with a capacity of more than 28,000 RT and the second phase includes supplying 16 buildings with 35,000 RT cooling energy.

It also signed an agreement with Sobha Realty in March to provide environmentally district cooling services to the developer’s mixed-use projects, most notably the Sobha Hartland master community with a capacity of 17,000 RT.

Under the agreement between the two companies, Sobha Hartland will join Empower’s extensive district cooling portfolio and the company will provide district cooling services across eight buildings of the Sobha Hartland project by extending the distribution network from the company’s Meydan district cooling project.

The company provides district cooling services to over 64 per cent of residential buildings, 15 per cent of commercial buildings in Dubai and 14 per cent of the hospitality sector.

It secured a contract to build a new-generation district cooling plant in the Dubailand Residence Complex development, for a total value of Dhs193m, with the aim of providing environmentally-friendly world-class district cooling services to the development.