Abaad Real Estate Company achieves 14.7% return on capital in first year of operation

In its first full year of operation, Abaad recorded total revenue of BD2.1m and a net income of BD1.5m for the year ended December 31, 2007, representing a return on capital of 14.7%.

"There were significant accomplishments, even though 2007 was our first full year of operation. During the year, we attracted a pool of talents to our company who posses diverse and complementary range of skills in real estate investment activities. We have also set up our business operation and installed key infrastructure systems in order to ensure effective, efficient and smooth operations," said Shaikh Hisham bin Abdul Rahman Al Khalifa, Abaad Chairman.

"We have also executed several land acquisition deals in the Kingdom of Bahrain and United Arab Emirates. At Abaad, we believe that excellence in real estate investments is crucial and we expect 2008 to be an attractive year in light of the significant opportunities available to our company" Shaikh Hisham added.

Commenting on the Abaad's performance, Ahmed Yusuf, CEO, stated, "We are pleased with the solid operating results achieved during 2007. We continued to generate growth which illustrates the ongoing strength of our property operations. From an investment perspective, we had a very active year. In 2007, we acquired a number of properties in strategic locations in the Kingdom of Bahrain and United Arab Emirates. We are currently working closely with our strategic partners to finish the master plans for several projects that we intend to launch later this year."

"On a strategic level, Abaad has been successful in forging alliances with key institutions in the GCC and MENA countries. We are actively pursuing with our partners several deals in key markets, some of which will be announced in the near future. I'm extremely pleased with how well Abaad Real Estate Company continues to navigate the real estate markets and excited about the company's future prospects. I also believe that Abaad is positioned well for continued growth in 2008 and beyond. Our objective is to continue to add quality investments to our portfolio." Mr Ahmed concluded.