By Mohammad Shoeb
DOHA: The shareholders of United Development Company (UDC) gave their nod to the Board of Directors’ recommendation to increase the non-Qatari ownership in the company’s shares up to 49 percent from the earlier ceiling of 25 percent.
The Company held an Extraordinary General Assembly Meeting yesterday, which was presided over by Turki Mohamed Al Khater, Chairman, UDC, to discuss the decision and other agenda of the meeting.
The decision to increase the non-Qatari ownership up to 49 percent instead of 25 percent is according to law No. (09), 2000 regulating the investment of non-Qatari capital in the economic activity.
The UDC shareholders also approved the amendment of the company’s Articles of Association to comply with the Commercial Companies Law No. (11) 2015, and the Corporate Governance Code No. (4) 2014, and to authorize the Company’s Chairman to approve the amendments.
UDC is a leading Qatari shareholding company and the master developer of The Pearl-Qatar, an artificial island spanning nearly four million square metres. It is the first land in Qatar to be available for freehold ownership by foreign nationals.
Al Khater said that the amendments are expected to contribute to Qatar’s economic diversification programme while enhancing UDC’s strategic economic standing and growth by developing the business environment in order to promote foreign investment in the State.
“In the same breadth, UDC’s flagship development, The Pearl-Qatar is well-positioned to benefit from these amendments as a unique and attractive destination for foreign investors and retailers looking to maximize their returns and diversify their investment portfolios”, he said.
“The decision is going to encourage more foreign investors to come and participate in buying the shares of UDC. This is happening in case of other companies and UDC is no different”, Ibrahim Al Othman, President and CEO of UDC told this newspaper on the sidelines of the meeting.
He added: “UDC has always been at the forefront of economically sustainable projects, and the amendment made to the Articles of Association further promotes efficiency and corporate governance which in turn serve to fulfill the economic requirements needed to achieve the Company’s developmental objectives in the long term.”
Asked about the liquidity and current percentage of non-Qatari ownership of UDC shares, Al Othman said: “The percentage of non-Qatari shareholding is currently less than 20 percent, but I am optimistic that with the increased cap, the percentage will increase significantly as there is no problem of liquidity in the market.”
He noted that the performance of shares of any companies is also in a way reflection of the economy. “So far the performance of UDC shares was reasonable, and we are expecting that the prices will increase by the end of this year as we at the Company are working according to our plans taking into consideration the prevailing market conditions for better results.”
The Company last month reported a net profit of QR271m for the first quarter of 2016 (Q1 2016). Net profit attributable to owners of the company stood at QR259m.
The Peninsula
