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Fertiglobe reports slimmer 4Q 2022 bottom line, but annual net income and revenue are up: Fertiglobe — a UAE-headquartered urea and ammonia exporter and MENA’s largest producer of nitrogen fertilizers — reported a 48% y-o-y decline in adjusted net income attributable to shareholders in 4Q 2022 to USD 172 mn, according to the company’s earnings release (pdf). 4Q 2022 revenue also dipped 11% y-o-y to USD 1.1 bn, off the back of lower urea prices, along with plant turnarounds — scheduled stoppage of some or all of their operations — in the UAE and Egypt, according to the earnings. On a full-year basis, Fertiglobe’s 2022 adjusted net income rose 75% y-o-y to USD 1.29 bn, up from USD 703 mn in 2021. The company saw a 52% y-o-y increase in revenue to USD 5 bn in 2022, up from USD 3.3 bn in 2021.
No more turnarounds for UAE, Egypt facilities in 2023: The 4Q plant turnarounds in the UAE and Egypt were among several turnarounds completed by Fertiglobe in 2022 — but no turnarounds are planned at those facilities in 2023, Fertiglobe CEO Ahmed El Hoshy said.
What’s in the pipeline: The company is “currently evaluating the engineering and technology choices” for the 100 MW electrolyzer plant it’s developing in Egypt with Scatec and Orascom Construction, “which will leverage our existing ammonia production and global distribution infrastructure,” El Hoshy said. This follows Fertiglobe’s recent commissioning of phase one of the USD 135 mn green hydrogen plant, which will produce up to 15k tons of green hydrogen a year as feedstock for some 90k tons of green ammonia.
Blue ammonia production is on the way: Fertiglobe has “made progress” with a blue ammonia project unveiled in late-2021 that will see it partner with Ta’ziz — a joint venture between Adnoc and ADQ — GS Energy and Mitsui to construct a facility to produce some 1 mn tons of blue ammonia a year, the earnings noted. The Shareholders’ Agreement for the project was signed in January and the EPC contract has been signed as well, with the project set to be financed by a mix of debt and equity.
Looking ahead, current low nitrogen prices will be offset by tight supply and anticipated high demand. Fertiglobe has “a good order book” going into 1Q 2023, El Hoshy said. Though global nitrogen pricing has been “weaker” in recent months, this has made nitrogen fertilizers more affordable for end-users, he added. Nitrogen demand is expected to recover to support the replenishing of low global grain stocks, while supply is likely to remain tight from 2023-2027. All of this is helping to keep the market healthy in the medium-long term, El Hoshy added. El Hoshy expects to see an uptick in demand for Fertiglobe’s industrial business, “supportive of ammonia primarily” — spurred by recovery in China, lower energy prices, and an improved global growth outlook.
UAE’s Tabreed sees an uptick in 2022 net income and revenue: Abu Dhabi-headquartered National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed) saw its net income attributable to shareholders rise 3% y-o-y in 2022 to AED 600.2 mn (USD 163 mn), according to the company’s earnings release. Tabreed’s revenue increased 13% y-o-y in 2022 to AED 2.22 bn (USD 600 mn).
Tabreed increased its total connection capacity to over 1.2 mn refrigeration tons (RT) in 2022, adding some 34k RT of new connections in the UAE, some 19k RT in Oman and 500 RT in Bahrain throughout the year, according to the earnings release.
2022 saw it expand its MENA market: Tabreed acquired a seventh district cooling plant in Oman in January, nearly doubling its concession capacity in the country. The company announced a partnership with Gascool and Marakez for Real Estate Investment in February to provide district cooling services to D5M mall in Cairo’s New Katameya and it signed a long-term BOO agreement with Egyptians for Healthcare Services Company in September for a district energy plant that will provide cooling and heating services to Cairo healthcare city project CapitalMed.
What they said: “Our medium and long-term strategy is being rolled out, with the company entering additional territories and increasing awareness through close alignment with governments, legislators, and developers, who understand how vital our services are in the drive to net zero,” Tabreed CEO Khalid Abdulla Al Marzooqi said.
