Aldar raises Dh7b for project funding

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi-based real estate developer Aldar Properties PJSC has borrowed Dh6.98 billion ($1.9 billion) this financial year for project funding, a top-ranking company executive said on Wednesday.

"The money has been raised through the capital markets and bilateral facilities. It will be utilised to develop our ongoing projects in the emirate of Abu Dhabi," Shafqat Malek, Aldar's chief financial officer, told Gulf News in an interview.

Capitalisation

Last year, Malek said Aldar, one of the largest companies in the UAE by market capitalisation, had raised the equivalent of $8.6 billion to fund its projects.

"Our borrowings depend on our needs. Last year we borrowed for projects that we are doing now and for the next year as well," said Malek.

Aldar's development of real estate projects across its portfolio is estimated to have exceeded $72 billion in terms of value with the entire portfolio slated to be completed and delivered over a period of seven to 10 years, said Malek.

On the debt-to-equity ratio of Aldar, Malek said the debt component of the company stood at 45 per cent, while the equity was at 55 per cent, as of June 30, 2008.

Subprime crisis

He said Aldar's market capitalisation as of Sep-tember 28 this year was Dh21.1 billion.

Asked if Aldar's projects are likely to be impacted by the subprime mortgage crisis in the US and collapse of the global investment bank Lehman Brothers, Malek said the property market in Abu Dhabi will continue to grow.

"There is a strong property market in Abu Dhabi led by a wide gap between demand and supply as the emirate's economy is growing at a robust pace," he said.

Turmoil: 'No lehman exposure'

Abu Dhabi-based real estate developer Aldar Properties PJSC doesn't have any exposure to the failed global investment bank Lehman Brothers, a top company executive said yesterday.

"We have no exposure to Lehman Brothers," Shafqat Malek, Aldar's chief financial officer, told Gulf News by telephone.

Lehman Brothers was a global financial services firm that declared bankruptcy last month. On September 15, it filed for bankruptcy protection. The filing marked the largest bankruptcy in US history and triggered a series of upheavals on global financial markets, which have not yet abated. On September 16, Lehman Brothers' investment banking and trading divisions were acquired by Barclays along with its New York head office.

Aldar, one of the largest companies by market capitalisation in the UAE, has a portfolio of real estate projects in the emirate of Abu Dhabi cumulatively valued in excess of $72 billion.

The entire portfolio is slated to be completed and delivered over a period of seven to 10 years. As of June 30, the company's debt component stood at 45 per cent, while equity was at 55 per cent.