Eshraq Investments, an Abu Dhabi-based investment company, has reported a net loss of Dh10.7 million ($2.91 million) for the full-year period ending December 31, 2019.

Eshraq’s net profit before impairments reached Dh11.8 million for the same period.

Despite weakening real estate valuations, Eshraq’s operations generated an income of Dh32 million, benefitting from the board’s diversification strategy implemented in early 2019. The investment portfolio generated strong income from investments and deposits, with net finance income and dividend income growing at 10 per cent and 69 per cent YoY respectively.

As part of Eshraq’s optimisation drive, the company decreased general and administrative (G&A) expenses by 13.1 per cent.

The company’s leasing and hospitality businesses, including its DIFC residential apartments and Nuran Marina hotel apartments, continued to outperform the market through their premium offering and quality, with occupancy rates reaching 93 per cent and 90 per cent respectively.

On the development front, Eshraq achieved conditional approval from the Department of Urban Planning and Municipalities (DPM) on the concept masterplan of its Gateway project, a mixed-use community development located between Maqtaa Bridge and Sheikh Zayed Bridge.

The company’s Marina Rise mixed-use project on Reem Island is slated to be ready by Q4 2020. The project has logged one million man-hours without lost time and injury (LTI). Once completed, Marina Rise will be the first development to contribute to Eshraq’s bottom line in 2020.

Jassim Alseddiqi, Eshraq’s chairman, said: “Eshraq’s operational profit remained resilient amid a challenging real estate market, thanks to the diversification strategy implemented at the start of 2019.

“The company’s leasing and hospitality business has maintained an occupancy rate above 90 per cent, indicating the quality of these assets and the proactive approach deployed by the management team. Moving forward, we will continue to be focused on further diversifying our revenues and be opportunistic for new investments.” – TradeArabia News Service