Dubai, UAE, 23 January 2019: Empower achieved steady growth in 2018 with a net profit of AED 804 million, said Ahmad Bin Shafar, Chief Executive Officer, during a press conference announcing the company’s 2018 Financial Results on January 23, in Dubai. Total revenues, he said, reached AED 2.03 billion, an increase of approximately four per cent, compared to the previous year. Bin Shafar said, “I strongly believe what happens this year and next year reflects the market conditions and change in the environment of the economy, especially in the District Cooling projects.”

Providing an overview of key business figures in 2018, Bin Shafar said the total cooling capacity reached 1.43 million Tonnes of Refrigeration (TR) and that Empower’s customer base expanded to provide 15,000 additional services over the last year, making the number of customers jump from 85,000 to 100,000. “It’s a really big number,” he said, “we have increased by seven per cent in terms of connection, close to 90,000 tonnes – that’s a company in itself.” He added that the total number of buildings served by Empower has reached 1,090, underscoring that approximately 7-8 buildings per month were connected last year. The number of plant rooms, he said, has also increased from 73 to 75.

Bin Shafar further added that Empower settled loans worth AED 672 million (USD 183 million), ahead of schedule. With these repayments, he said, Empower has fully settled its bank borrowings, for a total value of AED 2.67 billion (USD 728 million), and closed its books with “Zero Debt” balance in 2018. The event concluded with announcement of Empower’s new headquarters, which is set to be completed by 2021, with a total budget of around AED 300 million.