Abu Dhabi's Aabar suffers $376 mln Q2 loss

Abu Dhabi’s Aabar suffers $376 mln Q2 loss

H1 net profit 202 mln dirhams; Q2 comprehensive income 990 mln dirhams.

August 15, 2010 3:51 by Reuters

Aabar Investments, the Abu Dhabi fund in the process of converting to a private joint stock company, suffered a 1.38 billion dirham ($375.8 million) loss for the second-quarter, hurt by a surge in derivatives liabilities.

The state-owned firm, also the largest shareholder in German automaker Daimler, made a net profit of 202 million dirhams for the first half of the year, it said in a statement to the bourse.

Aabar did not provide any earnings numbers for the second-quarter. Reuters calculated the second-quarter loss based on previous financial statements. The company made a net profit of 1.58 billion dirhams in the first-quarter, helped by derivatives income.

Aabar, which raised its minority buyout price after pressure from the regulator, said its shareholders are meeting on Sunday to decide on the conversion of the company to a private joint stock firm and delist from the Abu Dhabi bourse.

In its earnings statement, Aabar said derivative liabilities in the quarter increased by 1.65 billion dirhams in the second-quarter to 5.08 billion dirhams.

Comprehensive income for the second-quarter stood at 990 million dirhams and total shareholders equity as at June 30 was 11.30 billion dirhams, Aabar said.

Profit on equity investments, which are marked to market on a periodic basis, stood at 1.025 billion dirhams for the quarter ended June 30, Aabar said.

In June, Aabar, which bought a 4.99 percent stake in Italian banking giant UniCredit, set plans to delist from the bourse and convert itself to a private joint stock company.

It later decided to raise the offer price to minority shareholders from 1.45 dirhams per share to 1.95 dirhams after pressure from UAE government officials.

International Petroleum Investment Corporation, or IPIC, wholly owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, is the majority shareholder in Abu Dhabi-listed Aabar.

The delisting move takes Aabar, one of the more transparent groups in the secretive world of sovereign funds since its IPO in late 2005, back into the shadows, and marks the first retreat of a local firm from the Abu Dhabi bourse.

(Reporting by Dinesh Nair, Editing by Jason Benham)