Amanat plans Dh1.5b expansion as healthcare gaps and rising UAE enrolments fuel growth
Dubai: For Amanat Holdings CEO John Ireland, the case for healthcare and education is becoming less about surviving economic cycles and more about capturing structural growth.
The Dubai-listed investment company, which has built its portfolio around healthcare and education businesses, is entering the next phase of its expansion with a clear view that both sectors can continue growing even amid geopolitical uncertainty and higher living costs.
“We see both in healthcare and education that the medium- and long-term fundamentals are strong,” Ireland told Gulf News.
That confidence is backed by Amanat’s H1-2026 financial earnings, which Ireland assures were not impacted by the ongoing regional geopolitics. Revenue rose 24 per cent year on year to Dh 582.5 million in the first half of 2026, while EBITDA increased 30 per cent to Dh 226.4 million and profit jumped 46 per cent to Dh 153.3 million. Its EBITDA margin also expanded to 39 per cent from 37 per cent.
The company says the performance was driven by growing patient volumes, higher student enrolments and continued investment in capacity across its healthcare and education businesses.
Amanat’s confidence is now being translated into capital deployment. Its three-year growth strategy calls for approximately Dh1.5 billion of investment across organic expansion, greenfield developments and selective acquisitions, with a target return on equity of at least 10 per cent.
Ireland said Amanat has not been impacted by the regional conflict in its first-half performance.
Revenue in both healthcare and education grew by more than 20 per cent, he said, with healthcare growing slightly faster as hospitals added capacity and moved further through their ramp-up phases.
“We're in resilient sectors as well. So, education and healthcare are known globally for being resilient, and I think that’s what we've seen coming through in the results,” he said.
Ireland pointed to population growth, ageing demographics, rising life expectancy, higher household incomes and government efforts to expand access to quality healthcare and education as long-term demand drivers.
For Amanat, that makes the two sectors more than defensive investments. They are markets where demand can continue to expand as the GCC's population and economies grow.
The strongest part of Amanat’s healthcare thesis is not necessarily the traditional hospital market. Cambridge Health Group, Amanat's healthcare platform, focuses heavily on post-acute care — the stage after acute hospital treatment — as well as rehabilitation and long-term care.
Ireland said the company sees a significant supply gap in this segment.
“In the segment of the market we operate in, we believe that there’s undersupply,” he said. That creates an opportunity for Amanat to expand not simply by adding hospital beds, but by building a broader healthcare ecosystem around patients who need rehabilitation, long-term care, diagnostics and other services.
The strategy identifies Cambridge Health Group’s expansion in post-acute care and rehabilitation as central to Amanat's next phase of growth.
Much of that healthcare growth is already taking shape in Saudi Arabia.
Amanat has expanded Cambridge Hospital Jeddah from 130 beds to 200 beds after refurbishing and modernising the existing facility. Ireland said the company is now adding another 70 beds, taking capacity to 270 beds, with completion expected in the first quarter of 2028.
In Al Khobar, Amanat opened a 150-bed hospital in November 2024 after converting an existing site previously zoned for a hotel. “We took an existing site, which had actually been zoned for a hotel, and we converted that, and we opened out 150 beds in November 2024,” he explained.
The company has also announced a new 155-bed integrated post-acute healthcare facility in Riyadh.
The H1 results show how quickly the healthcare platform is scaling: Cambridge’s revenue increased 28 per cent to Dh235.3 million, while EBITDA rose 58 per cent to Dh62.4 million. Licensed healthcare beds increased 18 per cent to 666, with another 49 beds licensed in Khobar after the reporting period.
Amanat is targeting more than 1,000 operational beds for Cambridge over the medium term, alongside an expanding service offering covering diagnostics, outpatient services, surgery, home healthcare, wellness and longevity.
Ireland's strategy goes beyond simply adding beds. The planned Riyadh facility will bring long-term care, rehabilitation, outpatient physiotherapy, minor surgery and diagnostics together in one centre. Similar capabilities are being added in Jeddah.
For patients, he said, the model reduces the need to move between facilities. For Amanat, it creates additional revenue streams from existing real estate and infrastructure.
“We think it provides a better patient experience because you’re able to receive all of the services under one roof,” Ireland said.
That integrated model is important to Amanat's investment thesis because it allows the company to increase the number of services it offers without necessarily requiring a completely new physical footprint for each service.
Healthcare is only half of the growth story.
On education, Ireland sees the UAE's position as a global hub for students as a major structural advantage.
Amanat’s education portfolio includes Middlesex University Dubai, NEMA and specialist education and care businesses through Almasar Education. The group's education business generated Dh347.2 million in revenue during H1 2026, up 22 per cent year on year, while EBITDA increased 33 per cent to Dh179.9 million. Student and beneficiary numbers reached approximately 28,900, up 21 per cent, with Middlesex University Dubai enrolments reaching about 7,200.
