Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has reported a 10.2 per cent increase in Q3 2023 revenues to Dhs9.4bn ($2.5bn), driven by higher demand for energy, water and cooling services in the city.
“DEWA’s revenue growth of 7.4 per cent was mainly driven by electricity demand growth of 6.4 per cent, water demand growth of 5.7 per cent and cooling services revenue growth of 9.5 per cent,” the utility firm said in a bourse filing.
The company said its third-quarter net profit exceeds the profit of the same period last year by 6.9 per cent despite a doubling in finance costs.
DEWA’s net cash from operating activities Q3 2023 increased by a robust Dhs754m to Dhs9.8bn, representing a record 8.3 per cent increase compared to the same period a year ago.
The group’s earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) reached Dhs5.2bn in the three months to September 30, up 9.9 per cent from the year earlier.
For the first nine months, DEWA’s consolidated revenue totalled Dhs22.2bn, with an operating profit of Dhs6.9bn and EBITDA of Dhs11.2bn.
“We have achieved the highest quarterly revenue, operating profit, EBITDA and net profit in DEWA’s history with an outstanding 9.9 per cent growth in our EBITDA. The profit from this quarter alone is sufficient to meet our dividend obligations for the second half of 2023,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, the managing director & CEO of DEWA.
DEWA distributed Dhs3.1bn as dividend for H1 2023 to its shareholders on October 18 and the upcoming dividend of Dhs3.1bn for H2 2023 is expected to be distributed in April 2024.
It expects to pay a minimum annual dividend of Dhs6.2bn in the first five years following its initial public offering in October 2022.
DEWA on delivering growth
DEWA delivered 4.771 terawatt-hours (TWh) of green power, a 34.5 per cent increase compared to the same period a year earlier.
The company’s installed generation capacity was 15.1 gigawatt (GW) with 2.6 GW of this capacity coming from renewable energy sources.
The firm added 200 megawatt (MW) of green capacity in Q3 2023.
DEWA plans to have a gross installed capacity of 20 GW and 730 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD) of desalinated water by 2030.
The company plans to obtain 5 per cent of the 20 GW from clean sources of energy while 240 MIGD of desalination capacity will be achieved using reverse osmosis technology.
Total power generation in the third quarter reached 18.897 TWh, an 8.8 per cent compared to 17.375 TWh in the same quarter a year ago. DEWA said total green energy generation during the quarter amounted to 1.626 TWh, a 29.9 per cent increase over the same period in 2022.
Meanwhile, water desalination in the third quarter of 2023 reached 38.7 billion imperial gallons (BIG), a 5.4 per cent increase compared to the corresponding period a year ago.
Founded in 1992 following the merger of the Dubai Electricity Company with the Dubai Water Department, DEWA is the exclusive electricity and water utility provider to Dubai’s 3.5 million residents.
The company served 1.2 million in the first nine months of the year, which is 57,159 ( 5 per cent ) more accounts than a year ago and an increase of 15,601 accounts from Q2 2023.
