Reem Investments approves 10% dividend

Reem Investments, an Abu Dhabi-based diversified investment company, yesterday announced Dh785 million profits for 2009 against Dh1.2 billion for the previous year, a drop of 34.5 per cent.

This represents a return on equity of 19 per cent for 2009. The company also reported a book value of Dh29.88 per share, an increase of 17 per cent from 2008. The directors approved a final dividend distribution of 10 per cent.

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of Reem Investments, said: "It is noteworthy that Reem's pace of its real estate activities was unimpeded by the difficult financial environment. With zero debt and one of the strongest set of financial numbers among companies in Abu Dhabi, Reem will continue to proceed according to its original plans. By the end of this year, a substantial segment of its Najmat project will come to fruition, and on Rawdhat, more individual plot owners will be able to break ground on their respective projects in the second quarter."

Managing Director Abdulhamid M Saeed said: "Reem adopted a conservative posture in last year's operations. We have been patient with regards to investments and focused on our core competency in the real estate sector. This stance, together with our financial prudence in the past several years, has placed us extremely well to withstand the pressures that the rest of the real estate sector is confronting.

"As a result, we have been able to keep to the original timeline in all our projects. In 2010, as a result of the tight credit conditions, we envisage that there will be opportunities to acquire assets with good yields in the UAE and GCC."

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