KUWAIT: United Real Estate Company (URC) Chairman Tariq Abdul Salam addresses the Annual General Assembly Meeting at the Chairmanís Club in KIPCO tower.

KUWAIT: United Real Estate Company (URC), Kuwait’s leading development and property services company, today announced an 8.3 percent increase in net profit of KD 8 million for the 2015 year at its Annual General Assembly Meeting. The company’s Chairman Tariq Abdul Salam also announced a 34 percent increase in net operating profit of KD 23 million for the year.

The Company’s general assembly meeting took place at the Chairman’s Club in KIPCO tower, and was followed by URC’s annual Shafafiyah (transparency) Investor’s Forum, which included a review of the past five years, in addition to highlighting the outlook for 2016 to 2020. Abdul Salam said URC had performed strongly despite market challenges and achieved a 52 percent increase in the company’s total assets over the last five years, yielding a cumulative value of KD 554 million.

The company’s revenues also rose 154 percent since 2010 to reach KD 61 million last year. “In 2014, URC forecast the growth of the company’s revenues and profits and this has been reinforced by the company’s end year results in 2015, yielding a 17 percent increase in revenues to reach KD 61 million, and a 34 percent rise in operating profit to reach KD 23 million, compared with 2014.

Additionally, net profit increased by 8.3 percent from the same period last year, to reach KD 8 million.” “Our focus has been to consistently apply our strategic long term vision to yield steady, positive financial results year on year, and develop a range of unique development projects across the GCC and MENA region. The company has achieved sustainable returns by structuring a diversified portfolio of assets and building a balanced source of income.

Moreover, URC took a number of steps in 2015 to support future expansion and development plans which has helped to open new strategic partnerships with investors and real estate professionals in the region. The company’s continued strategy to build the capacity of URC’s subsidiaries, which specialize in different areas including property and facilities management, contracting and building, construction and project management, has led to an increase of 43 percent in contracting and services revenue, as compared with the same period in 2014, to reach KD 12 million, and which the company plans to double in the coming year.”

Ahmad Kasem, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of URC added, “In 2015, we completed several projects including ‘Raouche View at 1090’, a luxury high rise building situated overlooking the famous Raouche rocks in Beirut, Lebanon, ‘Aswar Residences’, a 75 unit residential community in New Cairo, and ‘Abdali Mall’, a 56,500 square meter, market leading entertainment and retail shopping destination in Amman, Jordan, set to open its doors next month.”

“URC’s outlook for 2016 to 2020 is for continued growth and profitability with a focus on continuing to diversify the company’s capacity to take advantage of emerging development opportunities in Kuwait as well as the MENA region