Salah bin Ghanem Al Ali ,Chairman, Barwa Real Estate Group.
Barwa Real Estate Group yesterday announced a net profit attributable to the equity holders of the parent company at QR1.6bn for the year ended December 31, 2016, up QR1.25bn, or 353 percent jump from year ago.
The profit is after eliminating the amount of QR2.70bn as exceptional profit resulted from the sale of Mesaimeer land in 2015. Company announced an EPS of QR4.13 during the year 2016.
The company’s consolidated financial results reveal an improvement in the operating revenues of the Group with an amount of QR48m as an increase in the net rental income with a 6 percent increment compared to 2015 and an increase in the net income from consultancy and other services by 5 percent. On the expenses side, the Group has decreased the general and administrative expenses by 8 percent and decrease in the net finance costs by 8 percent compared to 2015. Also there is an increase in the equity attributable to the equity holders of the parent with the amount of QR658m reaching the balance of QR18.2bn as of December 31, 2016.
Salah bin Ghanem Al Ali, Chairman of the Board of Directors emphasised that the board has taken upon themselves the task of a total restructure of the Group from regulatory, operational, and investing perspectives. This restructuring contributes to the increase of the return on shareholders’ equity, and helps prepare the Group to face the numerous challenges facing the real estate market.
The Board has also worked in cooperation with the executive management of the group to put in place and initiate, the necessary plans to increase the sustainable return for the company’s shareholders, through attaining maximum benefits from the Group assets, whether via developing, operating, or sale of, within the sphere of major activities of Barwa as a real estate development company.
This has reflected positively on the financial position of the Group and its financial indicators which allowed us to recommend to the Annual General assembly recommended distributing a cash dividends for the year 2016 of 25 percent, a number considered as the highest dividend distribution in the company’s history. This is considered as a fulfillment of our promises to our esteemed shareholders and gratitude to their continuous support for the company since its establishment.
The Chairman said that Barwa is always striving to support its development path towards higher positions through the implementation of profitable projects that contribute to the achievement of the sustainable growth strategy.
He added that the Board is continually keen on positioning Barwa as one of the developmental pillars of our beloved country Qatar, and to contribute to the World Cup 2022 requirements and achieving Qatar National Vision 2030.
Salman Al Muhannadi, the Group CEO, said that year 2016 witnessed many challenges and difficulties in the local and international real estate market, however with the guidance of our Board of Directors chaired Salah Bin Ghanem Al Ali and also in alignment with Barwa’s mission, the Group worked hard to increase the shareholders’ equity and return in addition to achieving sustainable growth.
He added that the Group worked to overcome those difficulties through many initiatives including completing the development of the local projects under construction, Completing the master plan and concept design of the other projects in line with the market requirements and starting the development process at the earliest and enhancing the operational efficiency for the current operating projects.
