Above, the Mina Al Arab development in Ras Al Khaimah. Satish Kumar / The National
Above, the Mina Al Arab development in Ras Al Khaimah. Satish Kumar / The National

RAK Properties profits from Mina Al Arab handovers



RAK Properties, the developer backed by the Ras Al Khaimah government, posted a 9.1 per cent increase in profit last year as the company benefited from handing over properties at its Mina Al Arab development in RAK despite a slowing property market.

The Abu Dhabi-listed developer said its profit last year increased to Dh174.8 million from Dh160.1m a year earlier as the company handed over its Flamingo Villas – Phase II project at its main Mina Al Arab mixed-use development.

The profit increase came on the back of a 5.9 per cent increase in revenue for the year, which rose to Dh389.5m from Dh367.8m a year earlier.

The company said revenue from the sale of properties increased by 14 per cent to Dh337.5m in 2016 from Dh296m a year earlier.

However, RAK Properties said that total net property sales for the year to the end of December 2016 fell by 71.1 per cent to Dh78m from Dh270m a year earlier.

And rental income over the same period fell slightly to Dh24m from Dh25.5m a year earlier.

RAK Properties said that its board of directors had recommended a 5 per cent dividend to shareholders.

Mohammed Sultan Al Qadi, RAK Properties’ managing director and chief executive, said the company had approved four new projects for development including a new mall and four apartment blocks in its Mina Al Arab development as well as a residential tower in Abu Dhabi.

The company said it had started enabling work for a 306-room Anantara resort hotel at its Mina Al Arab development and had awarded the contract for enabling work for a 350-room InterContinental hotel at the development. It added that 100 serviced apartments at the project would start operation by the end of March.

RAK Properties launched Mina Al Arab, a housing complex spread over 43 million square feet, in May 2006 but was forced to put more than Dh1 billion worth of projects on hold as the global financial crisis hit the industry in 2009.

The real estate markets in the Northern Emirates slowed at the end of 2015 as Dubai’s property slump and the effect of low oil prices hit sales, according to brokers.

According to Asteco, rents for new-build apartments in RAK fell by 2 per cent in the year to the end of September 2016 compared with a year earlier.

lbarnard@thenational.ae

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Founders: Marwan Chaar and Hassan Jaffar

Launched: 2017

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Based: Dubai and Muscat

Sector: Automobile retail

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Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

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“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Size: 36 employees

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Directed: Smeep Kang
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