Barwa Real Estate Company held its Annual General Assembly meeting yesterday at 5:00 P.M in Aldasha Hall-Sharq Hotel, after attaining the required quorum with an attendance percentage of %62.98.
The General Assembly has endorsed the recommendation of the BOD to distribute cash dividends of 22%, equivalent to QAR 2.20 per share.
The General assembly has approved the Board report on the activities of the Company for year 2015, its financial position and the future plan.
The General Assembly has also approved the external auditor’s report, financial position and Profit or Loss statements. The Shariaa Supervisory Board and Corporate Governance reports were also approved.
Furthermore, the AGM has agreed to absolve the Board of Directors from their responsibilities for the year 2015, and approved their remuneration.
The AGM has also approved the appointment of Bait Al Mashura Financial Consultations as the Shariaa Supervisory Board for Barwa Real Estate Company, and Price Water House Coopers as the External Auditors of the Company for the year 2016.
H.E. Mr. Salah Bin Ghanim Al Ali, Chairman of the Board, presented the Board report regarding the activities of the company and its financial position for the fiscal year ended 31/12/2015 which included a comprehensive view on Barwa’s activities, performance, and consolidated financial information for the year 2015, in addition to its future plans.
His Excellency has detailed the Company’s performance and achievements during the year 2015 as a continuous process aims at establishing a strong future for the company and increase shareholder revenues in addition to supporting its financial position and help set forth the development of the new projects and improve the Group’s position and financial indicators.
In this regard, Barwa was able to achieve during the fiscal year 2015 a net profit of QAR 3,056 million and an EPS of QAR 7.86, with an increase of 10% compared to a net profit of QAR 2,778 million and an EPS of QAR 7.14 for the year ended 31 December 2014.
His Excellency has also highlighted that Barwa reduced the total liabilities by QAR 2,333 million to become QAR 10,718 million, and increased the total shareholders’ ownership rights value by QAR 1,812 million to become QAR 17,571 million as at 31 December 2015. The financial information also reveal an increase in the net profit of the financial year 2015, through attaining operational income of QAR 4,494 million, and a decrease in the general and administrative expenses by QAR 72 million, and a decrease in the financing cost by QAR 389 million.
H.E. Chairman added that during the years 2014 and 2015, Barwa has conducted a comprehensive re-structuring process, which included selling a number of assets to decrease indebtedness, empower the Company’s financial position and insure the availability of sufficient cash balance to cover the Group operations. The effects of this re-structure were clearly reflected in the financial statements for the year 2015. On the other hand, Barwa has obtained a number of new assets of expected higher profitability, in order to achieve sustainable growth.
H.E. Chairman continued by announcing Barwa’s Key achievements of 2015:
· Reinforcing the Group’s assets base through the complete acquisition of Lusail Golf’s shares, a company that owns a 3.6 million m2 land space in Lusail area.
· Concluding the sale of the second land plot in Mesaimeer, this boosted the company’s profits and its financial position.
· Successfully operating phase one of Barwa Al Baraha and receiving the first part of phase 2 along with its ancillary services. The completion of the second part of phase 2 is expected in the first quarter of 2016, adding up the number of buildings to a total of 64, with a constructed area of 504,751 m2.
· A noticeable increase in the coordination with the Government regarding its real estate initiatives, clearly demonstrated in Madinat Al Mawater project, Mustawdaat project, and the Workers Sports Complex project in Al Khor.
· Improving the operational efficiency of current Group owned projects, where the occupancy rate has reached 95%.
Furthermore, his Excellency the Chairman has highlighted the Company’s activities with regards to Governance and risk management, stating that the Barwa strives to apply and enforce a culture of Corporate Governance by ensuring highest levels of compliance with corporate governance requirements, issued by the Qatar Financial Markets Authority, and all relevant laws and regulations. The Board of Directors also aims to reinforce this governance culture by advocating the principles of transparency, accountability, responsibility and equality. These principles will allow Barwa to achieve a better organization for its shareholders. Furthermore, Barwa has complied with all disclosure requirements required as per the QMFA corporate Governance Code, as detailed in the Barwa Corporate Governance Code for the year 2015.
As for the human capital, the Chairman added that in order to achieve the Group’s strategic objectives, Barwa has always emphasized on the development of its human capital. The executive management, consisting largely of highly qualified Qatari personnel, has adopted a new organizational structure, including updated policies and procedures which will contribute to the development of Barwa’s employees by empowering their experiences and competences. This plan will allow Barwa to keep up with the high competition on the Real Estate market, and contribute to the accomplishment of Qatar 2030 vision regarding the development of human capital.
Barwa has also contributed to the Country through its social responsibility initiatives. The Chairman added saying that Barwa strives to be a major contributor to the society’s development by creating an architectural philosophy that goes beyond the simple principles of construction and aims to find a creative residential solution that serves the different social categories, especially medium-income groups in order to fight the high rise of residential units’ rentals, and also by working on a close cooperation with the Government of the State of Qatar, to execute a number of initiatives that serve the national development, such as the Al Khor Workers Sports Complex. Barwa is also pursuing its efforts to raise security and safety levels by cooperating with the General Directorate of Civil Defense in the Ministry of Interior to sponsor the “Safe House” initiative, which holds educational and training programs for the community.
His Excellency the Chairman has also presented the Company’s future plans for the year 2016 saying that Barwa’s team has reviewed all of the new projects of the group to ensure optimum benefit, in accordance with the State’s development requirements, and to increase targeted revenues. The following goals are targeted for the year 2016:
- Commencing the development of several new projects, mainly Dara A project in Lusail, phase one of Madinat Al Mawater Project, phase one of Mustawdaat project, and the extension of Barwa village project. Details of each of these projects will be announced in due time.
- Completion of Al Khor residential project that consists of 300 residential apartments and 50 villas.
- Completion of phase 2 of the Barwa Al Baraha workers accommodation, consisting of 16 residential buildings.
- Creating Lusail Golf project’s master plan with a land space of 3.6 million square meters.
- Continuing the efforts to improve the performance efficiency in the Groups’ subsidiary companies.
Finally, HE Mr. Salah Bin Ghanim Al Ali, Chariman of the Board extended his gratitude for the wise leadership of H.H. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar and H.E. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al Thani the Prime Minister and the Minister of Interior for their kind support.
H.E. has also extended his appreciation to Barwa shareholders and employees for their continuous support, being the main pillars of Barwa’s existence and future.
