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Dubai: Amlak Finance, the UAE's largest publicly listed finance company by market value, on Saturday reported a 131 per cent increase in net profits compared to 2006, at Dh301 million.
Amlak's fourth quarter 2007 net profits rose to Dh128.43 million, a groundbreaking 758 per cent increase over the previous year.
Forecasts for Amlak's fourth-quarter profit ranged from Dh69.43 million to Dh112.21 million, according to a Reuters survey last month.
"I am pleased to announce today that despite the injection of major financial resources in our regional expansion, Amlak has surpassed all expectations and has almost doubled the 70 per cent forecast annual profit growth that was projected for 2007," said Nasser Bin Hassan Al Shaikh, chairman of Amlak Finance.
Amlak's annual revenue was up 82 per cent at Dh711 million, with the company's financing activities contributing 65 per cent of the total.
Meanwhile, earnings per share (EPS) amounted to 20 fils compared to 0.09 fils in 2006, an increase of 122 per cent.
"In 2006, Amlak's net profits were Dh130.42 million and with the remarkable growth in this year's financial results, I believe this success is attributed to many factors, most important of which centres on the clear focus of consolidating the company's core business by targeting real estate financing and investments."
While the profits reflect mainly the UAE operation, during 2007 Amlak embarked on a major expansion plan across the region in order to offer its leading edge home financing solutions to other markets in the Middle East.
In September, Amlak signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC) to coordinate efforts between both organisations in order to develop the housing finance market in the region by potentially establishing joint venture partnerships in some of the countries into which Amlak is expanding.
Al Shaikh expects Amlak to solidify its leadership in the industry and regional markets in 2008. "Our mission is to focus on real estate financing and investing as our core business," he said.
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