In news from Qatar, Barwa Real Estate says that profits soared after an acquisition spree in 2010. Qatar’s biggest publicly traded developer by assets, posted some impressive numbers, and in a filing to the Qatar exchange yesterday its full-year net profit rose to 1.4 billion rials. This is an 84 percent gain compared to 766 million rials in 2009. The report revealed that revenues climbed to 8 billion rails, 5 billion more than in the previous year.
Two acquisitions Barwa Real Estate made in 2010, contributed significantly to their astounding bottom line. Adding Qatar Real Estate Investment Company and 60 percent of Barwa Al Khor added even more profitability and reach for one of the world's biggest real estate, banking, and construction players. With Qatar's bid for FIFA 2022, a the three stadiums in Khor (image above) will be expanded, and 9 more will be added to support this and other International events. (see the Qatar 2022 stadium video below)
On the heals of a very profitable year, Barwa announced that it plans to hold an initial public offering for its Barwa Bank this year as well. A developer group only five years old, Barwa set out on a series of strategic deals last year with the intention of enhancing its position in the regional property sector. This can be seen as a direct competition with Dubai’s Emaar Properties, among other big developers in the region.
More recently, Barwa has ventured outside the box to invest in projects in Turkey, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. The developer has also invested in Egypt’s New Cairo City Project, that is expected to be worth $9 billion when it is completed in 2023. Abbas Shafiei, managing director at Engel & Volkers in Doha, had this to say about Barwa.
“Barwa is a strong company. They are doing a lot of major projects inside the country and they have several billions of dollars invested outside of Qatar.”
Barwa Bank acquired two financing companies last year, under the hopes that it would draw investor interest if the initial public offer happens this year 2011. Regional unrest is seemingly the only thing working against Barwa right now. Shares closed 5.5 percent lower on Wednesday at 31.50 rials on investor concerns about the regional unrest. Consequently, Barwa’s shares closed down 5.5% to QR 31.5 yesterday in Doha, even on the good news.