|
Aamal expands into maritime transportation with a new subsidiary, Aamal for Maritime Transportation Services Doha, Qatar – 8 September 2015 Aamal Company Q.S.C., one of the GCC’s fastest growing diversified companies, today announces the establishment of a new subsidiary, Aamal for Maritime Transportation Services (“AMTS”). AMTS will take ownership of vessels initially to transport aggregates from Al Fujairah in the UAE to Mesaieed Industrial City in Qatar. AMTS will ensure security of supply for Aamal’s - owned subsidiary Gulf Rocks, a leading importer and provider of high quality gabbro aggregates which are widely used in concrete products essential to Qatar’s infrastructure development program as part of its National Vision 2030. In addition to meeting Aamal’s transportation requirements, AMTS will make capacity available to third party operators to optimise the vessels’ utilisation rates and profitability. The vessels are capable of shipping non-industrial commodities such as grains as well as aggregates and similar industrial raw materials. In line with Aamal’s strategy to partner with world class specialists with the requisite skills and experience to enter new markets and services successfully, operational management of AMTS’s vessels will be undertaken by Peter Döhle Group, one of the world’s leading providers of international shipping services, under a fixed term rolling service agreement. Commercial operations will start immediately as the acquisition of the first vessel, a bulk carrier with a capacity of 56,726 tonnes, has been completed. AMTS will have an initial share capital of QAR 200,000, which will be internally funded through cash, and without any debt financing. Aamal will hold 1% of the shares directly, with the remaining 99% held by Gulf Rocks. Aamal will have an overall effective interest of 74.75% in AMTS. The establishment of AMTS has no effect on the financial position of Aamal Company. Comment Sheikh Mohamed Bin Faisal Al Thani, Vice Chairman of Aamal, said: “I am very pleased that we have taken this decision to expand into maritime commodity transportation with the establishment of a new subsidiary, Aamal for Maritime Transportation Services. Owning our own vessels will give us greater control over security of supply of the raw materials that we need to import, whilst operational risk is minimised through partnering with Peter Döhle Group, a leading and highly respected global provider of shipping services, to manage this subsidiary.” Tarek M. El Sayed, Managing Director of Aamal, added: “Setting up a new subsidiary to ship in our raw material requirements can only be a good thing as it gives us much greater control of our supply lines, in terms of both security and responsiveness to end-market demands. Initially we will be starting with only one vessel but will be looking to expand in line with our needs. We expect at first to be limiting ourselves to importing aggregates from the UAE, essential for manufacturing concrete to meet Qatar’s growing infrastructure requirements, but this type of vessel has the capability to transport other commodities too, both industrial and non-industrial. This versatility, along with the opportunities to charter out capacity to third party operators when not required by Aamal, greatly enhances the profit potential.” Overview of Aamal (and Gulf Rocks) Aamal Company is one of the GCC’s fastest growing diversified conglomerates, with a market capitalisation at 7 September 2015 of QAR8.3bn (US$ 2.3bn), delivering a compound annual growth rate in net profit before fair value gains on investment properties in excess of 13% from 2006-2014 and generating annual revenues of QAR 2,139m (US$ 588m) in 2014. Focused on sustained, profitable growth and strongly diversified for balanced exposure across Qatar’s rapidly growing economy, Aamal’s operations comprise 24 business units with market leading positions in the key industrial, retail, property, managed services and medical equipment and pharmaceutical sectors. Aamal is one of the largest diversified companies quoted on the Qatar Stock Exchange, having been listed since December 2007, and is a constituent member of the QE Index which is a measure of the 20 largest and most liquid stocks listed on the Qatar stock market. Gulf Rocks is one of the 24 business units of Aamal and is the sole trading entity of Ci-San Trading, a 50:50 joint venture with Masraf Al Rayyan. This JV was established in 2008 to evaluate investments in various sectors such as industrial, real estate, and trading opportunities in both local and international markets. Effective ownership by Aamal in Gulf Rocks is 74.5%, with Ci-San Trading purchasing 51% in 2012 and Aamal directly acquiring the remaining 49% at the same time. For further information on Aamal Company, please refer to the corporate website: http://www.aamal.com.qa Overview of Peter Döhle Group With its 6,800 employees, Peter Döhle Group is one of the leading providers of shipping services worldwide. Founded in 1956 in Hamburg in Germany, this family-owned company operates a modern fleet of about 500 container vessels, multi-purpose vessels and bulk carriers. Beside the core competencies of chartering and sales and purchase of ships, Peter Döhle Group offers a wide variety of ancillary services, ranging from financial, commercial and technical support to insurance services and crew management, full agency services, bunker services as well as development of shipping software. For further information on Peter Döhle Group, please refer to the corporate website: http://www.doehle.de Aamal Company Q.S.C - Press Release
|