Company achieves balanced financial results, substantial project milestones

KUWAIT: United Real Estate Company (URC), one of Kuwait's leading real estate development companies, announced the holding of its General Assembly Meeting for the fiscal year ending December 31st 2017.

Tariq Mohammed AbdulSalam, Chairman of URC, discussed significant financial highlights from the annual report for the year ended December 31, 2017, which provided an overview of the company's major achievements over the past year. The report demonstrated the company's resilience in adapting to different economic conditions and challenges to achieve both balanced financial results and substantial project milestones.

URC recorded a significant growth in revenues in 2017 where total revenues increased by 23 percent to KD 87 million, compared to KD 71 million during the previous year. Total assets also increased by 5.24 percent to reach KD 602 million, as compared to KD 572 million in 2016. Profit stood at KD 2.2 million in 2017. Additionally, the company recorded a net operating profit of KD 21 million during 2017, similar to that recorded during 2016.

AbdulSalam said, "URC has sustained its growth despite external pressures, demonstrating a consistent and flexible business model. All factors are indicative of the effectiveness of URC's strategy, which seeks to balance the sources of income and the company's diversified assets in the Middle East and North Africa."

Furthermore, AbdulSalam commented that in 2017, the Board of Directors made a commitment to take serious and effective measures to ensure the company's adherence to the highest level of corporate governance and internal control, in line with URC's nature of business as a leading company in the real estate market. This was achieved last year, and will continue to be adhered to in 2018.

AbdulSalam then provided an overview on the progress of URC's ongoing projects that are geographically distributed across Kuwait and the MENA region, and range from retail complexes, hotels and residential properties, to high-rise office buildings and mixed-use developments.

On the subject of URC's projects, AbdulSalam commented that the company achieved significant milestones on a project level. This includes Phase 2 of "Assoufid", URC's inaugural project in Morocco. The development covers more than two million square meters, where the second phase will consist of a five-star hotel and a residential component, comprising villas and high-end apartments, in addition to several facilities and services.

In Kuwait, the company made significant progress in "Hessah Towers", URC's first residential offering in the prestigious Hessah Al-Mubarak District, one of the largest ongoing developments in the country. Launched last month, Hessah Towers covers a total built-up area of 63,000 square meters and is comprised two towers, consisting of a range of high end apartments, duplexes and townhouses, with panoramic views of the Arabian Gulf and Kuwait City. This new landmark will also include a number of facilities such as a health club, gymnasium, children's recreational areas, private gardens for residents, a swimming pool and multi-story parking.

Ahmed Kasem, Acting Chief Executive Officer of URC, said: "The substantial rise in in revenues in 2017 and the successful execution of the company's portfolio of assets reflects URC's sound business plan and reliability of its long term vision."

Kasem added that the Board of Directors and the Executive Management are committed to further develop and support the company's subsidiaries, United Building Company (UBC), United Facilities Management Company (UFM) and United International Project Management Company (UIPM). In 2017, we witnessed remarkable progress on this front, clearly reflected in the increase in revenues of contracting and services by 72 percent and the total profit increased by 79 percent."