Abu Dhabi-based holding company Multiply Group reported a net profit of AED207 million ($56.4 million), excluding fair value changes, in Q3 2024. For the first nine months of the year, the figure stood at AED920 million.
The year-to-date strong performance (over 13 percent year-on-year) reflects the successful integration of recent acquisitions, aligning with the group’s strategy of building vertical expertise within its portfolio. Reported net profit for the quarter of AED744 million includes AED537 million unrealized fair value gains from the public investment portfolio.
Strong revenue growth
Group revenue in Q3 2024 increased by 47 percent year-on-year to AED518 million ($141 million), driven by organic growth across all verticals (over 9 percent y-o-y) and the consolidation of BackLite Media, The Grooming Company Holding, and Excellence Premier Investment. Blended gross profit margin remained healthy at 44 percent, reflecting the change in revenue mix within the media vertical and the consolidation of Excellence under the mobility vertical. Investment and other income including dividend income totalled AED221 million.
Balance sheet remains strong, with cash balance of AED1.88 billion and additional liquidity of up to AED4 billion available for future investments. This financial flexibility reflects a disciplined approach to capital allocation, as evidenced by the approximately AED1 billion deployed in 2024 in three strategic acquisitions that align with Multiply’s vertical building strategy.
“In Q3 2024, Multiply demonstrated strong performance across its verticals, successfully integrating recent acquisitions to achieve new synergies while advancing our strategy of building vertical expertise within the group’s portfolio. Our group revenue in Q3 2024 increased by 47 percent compared to the same period last year to AED518 million, driven by the consolidation of three new acquisitions in 2024 along with the organic growth across all verticals, while the blended gross profit margin remained healthy at 44 percent,” said group CEO and managing director Samia Bouazza.
“Operationally, Multiply Media is capturing increased market share and unlocking additional revenue through increased capacity. Strategic investment and business integration across the mobility and beauty portfolios also support group revenue growth,” she added.
Focus on efficiency
Multiply Group’s efficiency programme, which launched in Q2, has accelerated significantly over the quarter, achieving over AED25 million of efficiency gains (over 50 percent of the group’s AED45 million target).
The group’s impactful cost-cutting initiatives include identifying savings in procurement, consolidating duplicated roles as it grows, and restructuring to remove business layers. On the revenue side, Multiply Group has captured more market share in media given its significant presence across three dominant OOH brands in the UAE. It has also unlocked revenue within mobility by restructuring the training schedule of Emirates Driving Company (EDC) to add more trainer capacity. Digital transformation has also enabled the group to be more efficient. Here it has automated backend processes, launched new revenue sources with a focus on programmatic within media — which leverages AI to automate ad buying for improved targeting and revenue growth — and modernized its technology infrastructure to enable better decision making. The group has also launched new online portals and services, reduced cash transactions, and gathered insights into customer spend behaviours.
Under Multiply+, the public market portfolio closed the quarter with a valuation of AED29 billion, compared to an initial investment of AED15 billion. Despite market fluctuations affecting the fair value of some assets, performance across the portfolio remains strong.
Key investments
In July 2024, Emirates Driving Company (EDC), a 48 percent subsidiary of Multiply Group, marked a landmark collaboration between leading entities in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, strategically expanding its market presence in the UAE by acquiring a 51 percent stake in Excellence Premier Investment LLC, parent company of Excellence Driving Centre based in Dubai.
In June 2024, Multiply Group’s 51 percent owned beauty anchor and UAE leading beauty provider, Omorfia Group, acquired 100 percent of The Grooming Company Holding (TGCH), a premier provider of salon and beauty services in the UAE.
Earlier this year, Multiply Group consolidated 100 percent of BackLite Media, a premier Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) advertising company renowned for its strategic assets in the UAE’s most iconic locations, including Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai and Galleria Mall, Abu Dhabi.
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