Gulf Times - Gulf Times Business
UDC posts QR279mn net profit in H1 2018
United Development Company (UDC), the master developer of The Pearl-Qatar, has posted a QR279mn net profit on revenues of QR889mn for the first half of the year.
The net profit attributable to the equity shareholders stood at QR260mn and basic earnings per share was QR0.74, UDC announced in a statement yesterday.
UDC chairman Turki bin Mohamed al-Khater said he “was pleased to see good financial results being generated by UDC under challenging conditions.”
Al-Khater said: “The half year results for 2018 affirm the quality of UDC’s existing portfolio and point to a prospective future, keeping UDC on the right track with a future that is bright and prosperous. UDC is wellpositioned to sustain its success, given the broad mix of high quality assets and amenities it has to offer at The Pearl-Qatar.”
This portfolio, al-Khater continued, includes an office tower, land plots and residential developments that are available for sale with retail and hospitality units that are available to lease.
Set within in a safe, secure and selfsufficient community, The Pearl-Qatar is a premier real estate development, possessing qualities unmatched by other real estate developments in the state of Qatar, he noted.
Al-Khater said the development of Gewan Island “was destined to become the most unique development of the developments currently taking place in the country.”
As announced at Cityscape Qatar 2018, al-Khater said this development will include an assortment of waterfront and beach front villas, private island villas, and apartments, along with retail and hospitality outlets, entertainment facilities, and a mosque on a reclaimed land adjacent to The Pearl-Qatar. Al-Khater also said other residential, commercial, and mixeduse developments, including developments such as the Giardino Village, Al Mutahidah Towers, and Floresta Gardens, among others, “are progressing according to UDC’s masterplan.”
“Upon completion, these uniquely designed and special motif developments will bring character, growth, and maturity to the island and set the island community as the best mixeduse real estate development,” alKhater said.
UDC president and CEO Ibrahim Jassim al-Othman expressed optimism over “UDC’s prospective outlook” and affirmed that UDC was committed to completing its new developments and placing them into operation.
Al-Othman noted several significant achievements that had been realised by UDC during the first half of 2018: concluding the sale of a major land plot in the Viva Bahriya precinct of the island and concluding a major lease agreement with a corporate tenant covering 285 units at Medina Centrale commencing in Q2 of 2018.
He also said UDC had witnessed a steady increase in residential and retail leasing business, with occupancy rates at The Pearl-Qatar on the rise.
The number of residential properties rented during the first half of 2018 had increased by 56% compared to the first half of 2017, while the volume of retail areas under lease had increased by 19% over the same period, “making The Pearl-Qatar the must have place to be for residential and retail tenants.”
Al-Othman noted that UDC had achieved “a good start” in 2018 and that the momentum established during the first half of the year “despite the surrounding challenges would carry over into the second half of the year.”