By Mohammad Shoeb
DOHA: The second phase of City Center’s expansion and redevelopment project, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2018, will have up to 7,000 sq metres (sqm) of additional retails space for lease, a top official of Aamal, the parent company of the Qatar’s most happening shopping centre said yesterday.
“The ongoing expansion and redevelopment works will be completed in different stages, which will end by 2018. The expansion of the mall will have about 5,000 to 7,000sqm of additional retail space to the Qatar’s oldest and largest shopping facility,” Sheikh Mohamed bin Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani, Vice Chairman of Aamal told The Peninsula on the sidelines of the Company’s AGM.
Sheikh Mohamed added: “The project will create more retail space, and at the same time the existing facility, which is now over 15 years old, will also be renovated and upgraded to maintain a very high quality of standards.”
Currently the company is working on the façade of the building, and also creating some retail space on the façade for coffee shops with outdoor seating arrangements, including the adjustments that are inside the mall.
The new space being created will give the mall a lively ambience, especially at the back areas, which have been redesigned. The refurbished mall, with more leasable space, will have additional popular retail brands, restaurants and eateries. Strategically located at the hub of West Bay, Qatar’s Central Business District (CBD), the shopping centre remains busy throughout the week compared to other malls in the country, which receives more footfalls on weekends.
In addition to its real estate business, Aamal Company, one of the GCC’s fastest growing diversified companies, is giving more focus on developing industrial manufacturing facilities, a sector which has contributed about 23 percent to the Groups combined profits in the last financial year ended December 31, 2015.
Aamal Group yesterday held its General Assembly Meeting (AGM) which was presided over by Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani, Chairman of the Board of Directors. Shareholders of the Company ratified all the items on its agenda during the Ordinary and Extra-ordinary meetings. Aamal earlier reported about 35 percent growth in its annual revenues for 2015 to about QR2.88bn compared to about QR2.14bn in 2014, which, when combined with an expansion in the underlying margin, has led to an almost 50 percent rise in net profit, excluding fair value gains on investment properties.
The company also reported 4.1 percent increase in earnings per share (EPS) to QR0.95 for the last financial year ended December 31, 2015 compared to QR0.92 reported during the previous year. The Peninsula
