On track to solidify Oman presence says Majid al Futtaim
(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Dubai-
Majid al Futtaim the leading shopping mall and retail operator across the Middle East and North Africa said on Monday it is on track to solidify its presence in Oman Egypt and Saudi Arabia and establish a stronger foothold in Africa and Eurasia through its Carrefour business.
The company which in November announced the completion of Muscat City Centre's RO35mn redevelopment also reported its preliminary
results for the full year 2015. The Muscat City Centre's redevelopment added 10000 sqm to the sultanate's largest retail destination a company statement said then. Majid al Futtaim saw revenue grow by eight per cent to AED27.3bn from AED25bn in 2014 while group Ebitda increased by six per cent reaching AED3.8bn. Performance was largely driven by continued investment in core businesses across Dubai and increased development activity in Egypt and Oman. "The company continues to maintain a strong balance sheet with total assets valued at more than AED51bn and a net debt of around AED9bn" a company statement on Monday said. Chief executive Alain Bejjani said 'Majid al Futtaim's 2015 financial performance has demonstrated the strength and resilience of our business against a backdrop of a regional economic slowdown. We've achieved this by continually listening to our customers and evolving our offerings in line with their changing needs. During the past year we enhanced our offering in Dubai successfully completing a number of retail and leisure projects including the 36000 sqm expansion at Mall of the Emirates." He added "We will continue to leverage our local experience and operational excellence across the region in line with plans to create more great moments for more customers in more countries. With several large scale developments currently in the pipeline in Saudi Arabia Egypt and Africa we are well positioned to fully leverage the significant growth potential of the Middle East and North/East Africa region.' Majid al Futtaim Properties reported an increase in revenue of seven per cent to AED4bn while Ebitda rose by nine per cent to AED2.6bn contributing about 65 per cent of the group's Ebitda. Occupancy across all shopping malls remained strong at 98 per cent. The retail business launched nine new Carrefour hypermarkets 11 supermarkets and five convenience stores in 2015.